Senate committee approves Marcos holiday in Ilocos Norte

A bill seeking to declare former President Ferdinand Marcos' birthday as a local holiday in his home province Ilocos Norte got the approval of the Senate committee on local government on Monday.

House Bill No. 7137, introduced by Ilocos Norte Representatives Angelo Marcos Barba and Ria Fariñas, and Probinsyano Ako party-list Representative Rudys Caesar Fariñas, sets September 11 of every year as "President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day" in the province.

Marcos was born on September 11, 1917 in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. He became the representative of Ilocos Norte's second district at the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959.

He was also elected as a Senator of the Philippines before becoming the 10th president of the country in 1965. He held onto that power for two decades and was unseated through the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. 

"A festive celebration like the proposed President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day will attract local and foreign tourists and further boost the tourism economy of the province," Barba said during the Senate hearing.

"The province will no longer go to the process of requesting a Presidential Proclamation declaring September 11 as a special non-working holiday in the province of Ilocos Norte," he added. -NB, GMA News