Will September 11 2021 be declared holiday in Ilocos Norte?
The late former President Ferdinand Marcos’ 104th birth anniversary will be on 11 September 2021. It is not yet clear if the day, which this year falls on a Saturday, will be declared as a special non-working holiday in his home province of Ilocos Norte. The holiday proclamation can come from President Rodrigo Duterte or from the Ilocos Norte provincial government, which is led by Governor Matthew Marcos-Manotoc, a grandson of the late dictator via Senator Imee Marcos.
The Filipino Scribe will be updating this post if and when new information becomes available. It can be recalled that Duterte declared the said day as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte back in 2017 through a proclamation, but he did not do so in the succeeding years. At present, there are legislative initiatives to make the said day a holiday on a permanent basis.
In September 2020, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 7137, declaring September 11 as “President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the bill had 197 affirmative votes, 9 negative, and one abstention. It was authored by Ilocos Norte representatives Ria Fariñas and Angelo Marcos Barba, and Probinsyano Ako Rep. Rudys Caesar Fariñas.
Just a month after, the Senate committee on local government approved a counterpart bill. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said at the time: “I am moving for an omnibus endorsement to the technical working group to reconcile the different versions and also to request for position papers from the other resource persons.”
It is not yet clear if the majority of Senators will vote in favor of having a “President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” even if it is just for Ilocos Norte. The Marcos family remains a potent political force ahead of the 2022 elections, with speculations focusing on former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. possibly running as president or vice president. It is also possible that his sister, Senator Imee Marcos, will be the one running instead.
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