Marcos issues proclamations declaring special local holidays and celebrations

Malacañang Palace, on Saturday, released 16 proclamations declaring 13 special (non-working) days and three celebrations in various cities and municipalities, as well as different celebrations and observances.

By authority of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin signed Proclamation Nos. 711 to 726.

For the month of November, there are 12 local special (non-working) days across various areas, listed as follows:

· Proclamation No. 725 declares 8 November 2024, Friday, a Special (Non-working) Day in the Municipality of Tanay, Province of Rizal in celebration of the 14th Hane Festival.

· Proclamation No. 711 declares 12 November 2024, Tuesday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Valenzuela CIty in celebration of its 401st Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 712 declares 15 November 2024, Friday, a Special (Non-working) Day in the Province of Oriental Mindoro in celebration of its 74th Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 726 declares Friday, 15 November 2024, a Special (Non-working) Day in Borongan, Eastern Samar to honor and celebrate the 154th Birth Anniversary of Eugenio S. Daza who served as overall commander of the revolutionary forces in Eastern Samar during the Philippine-American War and represented the 3rd District of Samar in the Philippine Assembly from 1907 to 1909

· Proclamation No. 713 declares 22 November 2024, Friday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija, which will celebrate the annual festival of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.

· Proclamation No. 715 declares 22 November 2024, Friday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Itogon, Benguet which will celebrate its 124th Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 716 declares 22 November 2024, Friday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Tublay, Benguet in celebration of its Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 717 declares 23 November 2024, Saturday, a Special (Non-working) Day in the Province of Benguet which will also celebrate the 124th Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 718 declares 25 November 2024, Monday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Maragusan, Davao de Oro to celebrate the Araw ng Maragusan.

· Proclamation No. 719 declares 26 November 2024, Tuesday, a Special (Non-working) Day in the City of Dasmariñas in Cavite which will celebrate a Founding Anniversary.

· Proclamation No. 720 declares 28 November 2024, Thursday, a Special (Non-working) Day in the Province of Sarangani for the 22nd MunaTo Festival.

· Proclamation No. 721: declares 28 November 2024, Thursday, a Special (Non-working) Day in Piñan, Zamboanga del Norte which will celebrate its 73rd Founding Anniversary.

For the month of December, Malacañang declared through Proclamation No. 714 that 5 December 2024, Thursday, is a special (non-working) day in the City of Palayan, Nueva Ecija, in celebration of the city's 59th Foundation Day.

Meanwhile, Marcos signed Proclamation No. 722 declaring every second week of October as "National Myopia Consciousness Week," promoting public awareness of the dangers of myopia. A World Health Organization study in 2015 predicted a global rise in myopia that could affect 3.36 billion people by 2030 and 4.80 billion people by 2050.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a refractive error in which rays of light entering the eye parallel to the optic axis are brought to a focus in front of the retina when ocular accommodation is relaxed.

Malacañang declared every 19th of October as "Transport Cooperative Day" through Proclamation No. 723, celebrating the transport cooperative sector.

In 1993, Proclamation No. 279 declared the period from 18 to 24 October as "Transport Cooperative Week" to recognize the Transport Cooperative Program (TCP) and mark its 20th Foundation Anniversary.

December is also declared as the "Philippine Architecture Festival - National Architecture Month," celebrating the contributions of Filipino architects toward "planned urban growth, environmental planning, and overall social progress."

According to Proclamation No. 724, this expands Proclamation No. 934 series of 1971, which previously celebrated "Architecture Week" every second week of December.