A STAINED glass display at the Mabini Shrine in Tanauan City shows Apolinario Mabini writing “El Verdadero Decalogo” (The True Decalogue), a set of rules to guide Filipinos on how to become better citizens, in May 1898. MARICAR CINCO /INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON
LUCENA CITY – Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas has declared July 23 a “special non-working holiday” for the province in celebration of the 158th birthday of hero and patriot Apolinario Mabini, a native of Tanauan town.
“In spite of his humble beginnings and physical handicap, his brilliance, anchored on his nationalistic ideals and principles in life, had contributed so much to the fight for our independence and had made him considered as the brain of the Philippine Revolution,” Mandanas said in his Proclamation No. 01 issued on Friday, July 22.
Mandanas added: “It is fitting and proper for the province of Batangas to commemorate his natal day and ensure that his heroic and outstanding contributions to the country are remembered and emulated.”
The governor called Mabini a “great Batangueño national hero”.
The proclamation was posted on the Facebook page of the Batangas Public Information Office.
On April 10, 2007, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9430, declaring July 23 each year as “Apolinario Mabini Day” and a “special working holiday,” but only in Tanauan City.
Mabini was described in history books as a “sublime paralytic” because of his polio.
Despite his disability, Mabini engaged in the revolution against the Spanish and American colonial masters, which earned him the historical moniker as one of the “brains of the revolution” against Spain; and a tireless advocate for independence against American rule.
Mabini, born on July 23, 1864, died on May 13, 1903 at the age of 38 in Manila, two months after he returned to the Philippines from Guam, where he was exiled by the American colonial authorities.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, workers get no pay if they don’t work on a special non-working holiday unless a company orders otherwise. If they work on that day, they shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their basic wage for the first eight hours of work.