The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill declaring Nov. 8 of every year as a special non-working holiday in Eastern Visayas to honor those killed by super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name “Haiyan”).
House Bill No. 4960 or the “Yolanda Commemoration Day” measure substituted House Bill 3300, which was principally authored by Tingog Sinirangan party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez and husband House Majority Leader Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.
“This bill is intended to be a fitting tribute to the memory of all who died in the disaster and to salute the selflessness of all volunteers and organizations who took part and contributed in the recovery and rehabilitation efforts of the communities affected by the typhoon,” the Romualdezes said.
Under HB 4960, Nov. 8 of every year shall be declared as a special non-working holiday in Tacloban City and Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar, and Eastern Samar to commemorate the onslaught of Yolanda.
During the previous 17th Congress, the House of Representatives approved the bill on third and final reading. It was principally authored by Mrs. Romualdez.
The Romualdezes noted that for the last three years, Tacloban, Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar, and Eastern Samar have been observing an annual commemoration of the Yolanda devastation through a local executive order.
“The pain caused by Yolanda is somewhat negated by the phenomenal opportunity to be able to build back better, given the overwhelming support that comes our way in many forms – humanitarian aid for immediate disaster relief, funding assistance for rehabilitation and recovery projects, and even technical assistance willing to be shared by experts on understanding better the disaster that hit us and preventing another one from hitting us in the future,” they said.
Yolanda heavily battered Eastern Visayas, killing 5,982 people and affected 2.6 million families.
