Is it a Holiday?

Do you know that this is the most common inquiry, question the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) receives for the entire year?

 

Usually we get this question, weeks and then days prior to the said Holiday. And as it nears, we get more and more calls asking the same question.

                                                                                                                                                                    Probably  because that Holiday is already declared under a Presidential Proclamation (issued the year

before) and detailing the list of Holidays for the entire year.

Say for example, for this year 2017, as early as July of last year, Malacanang, through the Official Gazette, then posted Proclamation number 50, declaring the Regular and Special (Non-Working) holidays the entire year.

It is what we simply call as an umbrella Presidential Proclamation..

It covers the Regular Holidays such as New Year's Day, Bonifacio Day, Labor Day; and then the

Special Non Working Holidays like Black Saturday, Ninoy Day, Chinese New Year..etc.

At the same time, Proclamation 50 made mention religious holidays which does not have specific dates.

So far only the two Muslim holidays are covered under the umbrella Proclamation and these are Eidul  Fittr which usually falls in the month of June and Eidul Adha, somewhere in between August and September.

The exact date is dependent upon the Muslim calendar.  Once identified, the Office of the Muslim Affairs (OMA) and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) must inform Malacanang for the issuance of another Presidential Proclamation.

Yep, dear readers.  It needs another law which specifies the exact date of the celebration.

The celebration of Eidul Fittr of this year for example was officially declared   on June 26 under Presidential Proclamation 235.  

Therefore, even if there are already postings and calculations on the exact  date of Eidul Adha, what we can answer you is ...

"As of press time, there is no released Proclamation yet on the said celebration"  

By the way, here are next year's list of Holidays in the Philippines..just click this : HOLIDAYS 2018

Over P1M help from Lions benefit more than 2000 Ormoc earthquake victim-families

More than 2,000 families in Ormoc City were able to benefit from the more than a million pesos worth  of goods donated by Lions Clubs International.

Days after the 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the province of Leyte last month, Lions Clubs from the District immediately pitched in goods as immediate help to the victims.

At the evacuation area 

Leyte belongs to District 301 B2 which also comprise clubs from Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol and Siquijor with 36 clubs.  

And barely a month after, an emergency grant amounting to US$10,000 was released by the international organization to the district as aid to the victims.

District Governor Stephen Yap said another half million was given by  Manila Valenzuela Businessmen Lions Club of District 3001-A3.

District 301B2 Governor Stephen Yap paid a courtesy call with Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez.  Also in photo is  Ormoc Host Lions President , former PBA Rey Evangelista  

“The goods were distributed directly to the beneficiaries since we are prohibited to turn this over to the local government unit,” Yap said.

However Yap said, Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez had put Lions Club at the forefront of accepting relief goods and its distribution.

Cash donations on the other hand were tasked to the Ormoc Chamber of Commerce and Industry who is also headed by a Lion.

Other than the P1 million goods were initial donations of the different clubs in the district.

The goods include mosquito nets, rice, pail, basin, water dipper, alcohol, bath soap, laundry bar soap, blankets, towel, cotton, feminine napkins, slippers, toothpaste, toothbrush, mosquito nets, bottled water, mosquito coil, bathroom tissue & slippers and tents.

The goods were delivered to Ormoc through Roble Shipping who extended 60 percent discount in shipping fees.

Lions Club is the oldest existing civic organization in the world. This year is its 100 years since it was

founded in 1917 by a Melvin Jones of Chicago.  It was composed of the members of the business community.

Lions Clubs International now has 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs. Here in the Philippines there are over 36,000 members.

The organization goes by its motto, “We Serve”.

The earthquake last July left three dead, a hundred injured.  It had affected 13 barangays in Ormoc and nearby Kananga town.