LP members file House bill seeking to declare February 25 as regular holiday

Members of the Liberal Party at the House of Representatives led by ML Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima on Tuesday filed a bill seeking to declare February 25 of every year as a regular non-working holiday to commemorate the EDSA People Power Revolution.

House Bill 8028 stated that declaring February 25 of every year as a “regular national public non-working holiday” will be observed by “paying tribute to the heroes and martyrs of the Martial Law Period and the People Power Revolution, and celebrating the values of Philippine democracy.”

“As members of the Liberal Party who champion democracy, human rights, and civil liberties, it is just but fitting na maghahain kami ng ganitong panukalang batas . Pero ito po ay tungkulin ng bawat henerasyon (for us to file this proposed measure. But this is a duty of every generation),” De Lima said in an interview.

“Hindi lang po ito tungkol sa pagdedeklara ng isang petsa bilang holiday kundi pagkilala ito sa kabayanihan ng sambayanang Pilipino na buong tapang na nanindigan para mawakasan or wakasan ang mapaniil na diktadurya at para ibalik ang demokrasya. This also seeks to memorialize the heroism, the sacrifices, and the suffering of the victims and survivors of the Martial Law era,” she added.

(This is not just about declaring a holiday but recognizing the heroism of the Filipino people who bravely stood up to end dictatorship and bring back democracy to the country.)

De Lima stressed the importance of the bill “lalo na’t di na lang banta kundi talagang nangyayari ang disinformation and historical revisionism (especially that disinformation and historical revisionism are really happening and not just a threat).”

Accompanying De Lima was Kiko Aquino-Dee, also a member of LP and grandson of former President Cory Aquino and former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.

“I think EDSA is the reason I’m proud to be Filipino and I hope that’s something that our fellow Filipinos can share. And I think commemorating it, marking it as a special non-working holiday that we know for the rest of our history would be a very big step in sharing that sort of pride, sharing that pride of place, pride of country, pride of our people, and pride of our values with our fellow Filipinos,” Dee said in the same interview.

The other authors of the bill are Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Adrian Michael Amatong, Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, Muntinlupa Rep. Jaime Fresnedi, and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Alfonso Umali Jr. —AOL,GMA Integrated News