President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (right). - Official Facebook page of President Bongbong Marcos and Wikimedia Commons
MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Thursday (Aug 24) declared Sept 11 this year – his father’s birth anniversary – a holiday in Ilocos Norte.
In issuing Proclamation No. 327, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, the President notes, “[i]t is but fitting and proper that the people of the Province of Ilocos Norte be given full opportunity to participate in the occasion and enjoy the celebration.”
“Now, therefore I, Lucas P. Bersamin, Executive Secretary, by authority of the President, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, do hereby declare Monday, 11 September 2023, a special (non-working) day in the Province of Ilocos Norte,” the order likewise states.
Barely 100 days after assuming the presidency in 2022, Marcos declared Sept 12 as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte, also in celebration of his father and namesake’s birthday – Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Proclamation No. 53 was issued on Sept 7, 2022, and signed by then-Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, by authority of the President.
Proclamation No. 327 was made public on Thursday although Bersamin signed it on Aug 23, 2023, or two days after the nation’s commemoration of the 40th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino.
In 2017, then-President Rodrigo Duterte likewise declared the late dictator’s birth anniversary a holiday Ilocos Norte.
