Declaring May 21 as Santiago Fonacier Day, a Special Public Holiday in Laoag City

March 15, 1985

PROCLAMATION NO. 2402

DESIGNATING THE TWENTY-FIRST OF MAY AS SANTIAGO FONACIER DAY AND AS A SPECIAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN THE CITY OF LAOAG

WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper to honor the memory of great Filipinos through public celebrations of their anniversaries inasmuch as such celebrations help to edify the citizenry, particularly the youth; and

WHEREAS, one such great Filipino whose memory is worth perpetuating is the late Santiago Fonacier of Laoag who distinguished himself in life

as a public servant, having been elected to the Philippine Assembly as representative of the First District of Ilocos Norte 1912-1916 and to the Philippine Senate as representative of the First Senatorial District 1919-1925; and appointed member of the Second Philippine Independence Mission to the United States in 1922. casia

as an educator, having been a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines 1923-1925, chairman of the Government Textbook Board 1923-1925 and member of the Institute of National Language 1938-1941;

as a writer, having been publisher and editor of La Lucha (Dangadang) editor of La I.F.I. and Asemblea Filipina, correspondent of La Democracia and el Grito del Pueblo; translator of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Mabini's La Revolucion Filipina and other classic Filipino works into Ilocano; and author of Dagiti Naglallalaki a Pilipino and other books on Ilocano history and culture;

and as a religious leader, having been elected Obispo Maximo of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in 1940, a worthy successor to Gregorio Aglipay whom he first served as secretary and later as priest and bishop; and for having been awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the University of Chicago, one of the first Filipinos to be so honored.

WHEREFORE, on account of such achievements, the said Santiago Fonacier is indeed worthy of the respect and admiration of the Filipino people in general and of the people of Laoag in particular. aisa dc

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby proclaim that every twenty-first of May be hereby designated, as it so designated, as Santiago Fonacier Day to be celebrated as a special public holiday in the City of Laoag.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 15th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five.