December 8 a special non-working holiday every year
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has officially declared December 8 of every year a special non-working holiday in the entire country to commemorate the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the principal patroness of the Philippines.
Mr. Duterte signed the Republic Act No.10966 on Dec. 28 as shown in the copy of the measure released by Malacañang on Friday, Dec. 29.
Section 2 of the Act states that it “shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.”
The Act was passed by the House of Representatives on May 2 and by the Senate on December 11.
The said measure was introduced in the Senate as S.B. No.1430 by Senate majority floor leader Vicente C. Sotto III.
In his explanatory note, Mr. Sotto said: “The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation by reason of the 300 years of Spanish rule.”
Citing the 2016 Philippine Statistics Yearbook, Mr. Sotto said that in 2010 alone, “80.58% of Filipinos are Catholic including Catholic charismatic. To prove the Filipinos’ religiosity and faith are the numerous religious feasts, celebrations and festivities being held in the country all year round. While there are a number of religious feasts in the Philippines, there are only three (3) Holy Days of Obligation—these days being the most important feasts of the liturgical year.”
These three Holy Days of Obligation are the Immaculate Conception (December 8), Christmas Day or Nativity of Our Lord (December 25), and the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (January 1).
“However, at present, among the Holy Days of Obligation, it is only the Feast of the Immaculate Conception that is not declared as a non-working holiday — the two (2) other days of obligation being regular holidays in the country,” Mr. Sotto added.
“In order to allow the Filipino Catholics to further strengthen their established devotion to Mary, Mother of God through hearing mass and through the exercise of other customary religious activities, this bill seeks to declare December 8 of every year as a special non-working holiday in the entire country to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the principal patroness of the Philippines.” — Arjay L. Balinbin
