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LUCENA CITY — Malacañang has declared Feb. 8 as a special non-working holiday in Tiaong town in Quezon province to mark the 134th birth anniversary of writer, statesman, and jurist Claro M. Recto.
Proclamation No. 460, issued on Jan. 26 and signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, said the holiday declaration would give the people of Tiaong “full opportunity to participate in the occasion and enjoy the celebration.”
A copy of the proclamation was posted on Tuesday, Jan. 30, on the Facebook page of the Tiaong Public Information Office.
Recto, known as the “Father of the Philippine Constitution” was born on Feb. 8, 1890 in Tiaong. He presided over the convention that produced the 1935 Constitution.
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He was a former associate justice of the Supreme Court and was elected to the Senate in 1931, 1941, 1949, and 1955.
Recto was also the main author of Republic Act 1425, or the Rizal Law, enacted on June 12, 1956, which requires all schools to make Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” compulsory readings for Filipino students to inculcate nationalism.
Recto died in October 1960 in Rome, Italy, while on a cultural mission as ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Europe and Latin America.