July 1 2015 declared holiday in Davao provinces
Three provinces in Region XI, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, and Davao del Norte will be celebrating their 48th foundation anniversary this July 1.
The day, which this year falls on Wednesday, is a public holiday on the three provinces by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 6380. The law was enacted in 1971, during the administration of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. Read the full text of RA 6380 in this link.
The three provinces used to be part of the former Davao province from 1914 to 1967. This eventually was broken down into three separate provinces came by virtue of RA 4867. This particular law now serves as the provincial charter for the three provinces, which are located at the extreme southeast portion of the Philippines.
The law also designated Tagum, Digos, and Mati as the capitals of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental, in that order. These former municipalities have since been converted into cities over the decades.
As noted in a previous post, there will be a fourth Davao province beginning next year. The new province will be called Davao Occidental. The country’s newest province was created through RA 10360. Together with Compostella Valley, and the three other Davao provinces, the establishment of Davao Occidental will bring the total number of provinces under Region XI to five.
The new province will be composed of the following municipalities (mostly carved out from Davao del Sur): Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, Santa Maria, Sarangani, and Malita, which will serve as the seat of power.
According to RA 10360, residents of the new province will have the chance to pick their own set of elected officials, from governor down to the councilors, during the 2016 general elections.
(PS: Davao City is not included in this holiday announcement because of its status as a highly-urbanized city administratively separate from Davao del Sur.)
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