Palace: Feb 22 nonworking day in San Pedro, Laguna

February 22, a Tuesday, will be a special non-working day in San Pedro town in Laguna province, Malacañang declared Friday. In Proclamation No. 109, which was posted Friday evening on the government portal, the Palace said Feb. 22 marks the town’s fiesta in honor of its patron saint, St. Peter the Apostle. “It is but fitting and proper that the people of the Municipality of San Pedro, Laguna be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies," Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said in the declaration. San Pedro, a fast-growing first class municipality, is the first town to the south of Metro Manila along the Southern Luzon Expressway. St. Peter the Apostle, the town’s patron saint, is regarded as the first Pope by the Roman Catholic Church. In the Bible, he is described as a fisherman who became one of the Twelve Apostles, and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few disciples, such as the Transfiguration.—JV, GMA News