Sen. Sotto Released A Note Over Push for December 8 To Be A Holiday
DECEMBER 8 – Philippine Senator Tito Sotto released a note over his move to push for the bill seeking December 8 to be declared a holiday.
December 8 is now officially a special non-working holiday after President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the Republic Act No. 10966 last December 28. The said law sought for the declaration that the date would be a holiday.
It was on May 2, 2017 when the bill passed the House of Representatives. On December 11 of the same year, it was passed in the House of Senate.
It was Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto who introduced the Senate Bill No. 1430 in the Senate. Based on a report on Business World, he has released a note on pushing for December 8 to be a holiday.
On pushing for the bill seeking December 8 to be declared a holiday, Sen. Sotto reportedly emphasized in his explanatory note that the “Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation by reason of the 300 years of Spanish rule”.
The Senator also cited that the 2016 Philippine Statistics Yearbook stated that “80.58% of Filipinos are Catholic”. He also added that the feasts and celebrations held in PH prove the faith and how religious Pinoys are.
“While there are a number of religious feasts in the Philippines, there are only three (3) Holy Days of Obligation… However… It is only the Feast of the Immaculate Conception that is not declared as a non-working holiday,” he said.
Based on the report, the three Holy Days of Obligation are the Feast of Immaculate Conception on December 8, the Christmas Day on December 25, and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God of January 1.
In his note, Sen. Sotto that the bill seeks for the declaration of the December 8 as a special non-working holiday so that Catholic Filipinos may further strengthen their devotion to Mary.
According to him, with the said date as a holiday, Pinoy Catholics can attend mass or exercise “other customary religious activities”.
