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[av_heading heading=’Celino questions Capiz guv’s holiday order’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENN VIDAL BEUP
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Sunday, April 30, 2017
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ROXAS City – The CapizTahan 2017 may be over but a number of city hall employees have yet to face the consequences for their failure to report to work on April 21 after Mayor Angel Alan Celino refused to acknowledge the executive order issued by Capiz governor Antonio del Rosario declaring that day a special non-working holiday in the entire province.
Roxas City is a component city of Capiz.
“I held back the implementation of the executive order as I have to seek first the opinion of the Department of the Interior and Local Government regional office surrounding its legality. I also sent a separate letter to the Civil Service Commission concerning those employees who were not in their posts despite the non-implementation of the executive order,” said Celino.
According to the mayor, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) had consistently opined that local government units (LGUs) through their sanggunians have no authority to declare a particular day a holiday.
“The power or authority to declare a holiday is lodged with Congress and the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Nowhere in the Local Government Code or in any other law can you find that this power or authority has been delegated by Congress to the LGU,” said Celino, citing Opinion No.15, series of 2010 of DILG Regional Office 6.
The provincial government should have declared instead a “special day” through legislative action in commemoration or in a celebration of an important event and such declaration must fall on the nearest Friday of a particular special day, he added.
The order declaring April 21, 2017 a special non-working holiday in the entire Capiz province and Roxas City was in “pursuant to Republic Act No. 9217 in commemoration of the death anniversary of the late President Manuel A. Roxas which actually falls in April 15 of every year,” according to Atty. Ronnie Dadivas, provincial legal officer.
However, considering that April 15, 2017 fell on a Saturday and the nearest Friday, April 14, 2017 was Good Friday and also a national regular holiday in the observance of the Holy Week, the provincial government deemed it alright to declare April 21 a special non-working holiday to give Capiznons time to reflect on the life and legacy of the late President as part of the commemoration of his death anniversary, said Dadivas.
Governor del Rosario, meanwhile, said he respected the stand of the city government.
“We just wanted to foster unity among our local leaders as we celebrate the CapizTahan and as we commemorate the 116th foundation anniversary of the civil government of Capiz and the death anniversary of the late President Manuel A. Roxas,” he stressed.
The event officially opened with the hoisting of the Philippine flag, provincial banner and the 17 banners of the 16 municipalities and Roxas City at the Capiz provincial park.
No representative from the city government was seen during flag hoisting, prompting Capiz 1st District’s Cong. Emmanuel Billiones Sr. and Provincial Board member Sonny Besa to raise the city banner./PN
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