Sept. 20 declared ‘special non-working holiday’ in Dingras, Ilocos Norte to honor war heroine

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LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — A special non-working holiday was declared on Sept. 20 in Dingras town in Ilocos Norte province to pay tribute to Josefa Llanes-Escoda, a World War II heroine and the founder of Girl Scouts of the Philippines.

Former Executive Secretary Victor D. Rodriguez, by authority of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., signed Proclamation No. 58 on Sept. 16, declaring the holiday.

“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the Municipality of Dingras be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies, subject to the public health measures of the national government,” the proclamation stated.

Escoda, born in Dingras on Sept. 20, 1898, is considered one of the “country’s most illustrious Filipino women, who championed the cause of civil and social services,” according to Proclamation No. 1214 signed in 1998 by former president Fidel V. Ramos to commemorate Escoda’s centennial year.

She was known as the “Florence Nightingale of the Philippines” and was an active member of the suffrage movement in the Philippines.

Before being executed by the Japanese on suspicion of being a guerrilla sympathizer, Escoda was also a social worker and a head of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs. INQ

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