Commemorative holidays for EV’s Yolanda, Ormoc flood sought

CEBU, Philippines - Two congresswomen of Leyte have filed separate House bills seeking to declare two tragic days — the Yolanda devastation in Eastern Visayas region and the killer flash flood in Ormoc City — as commemorative holidays.

Representative Yedda Romualdez (1st district, Leyte) filed a bill seeking to declare every November 8 as Yolanda Commemorative Day in the entire region, not for remembering the tragedy but “to show the strength and resilience of the people of Eastern Visayas.

Representative Lucy Torres Gomez (4th district, Leyte) filed another bill declaring every November 5 as Ormoc Flash Flood Memorial Day or a special non-working holiday for Ormoc City.

Lucy said her Ormoc Memorial bill is intended to honor thousands who died in a flash flood, spawned by typhoon Uring, that devastated Ormoc on November 5, and to ensure that Ormocanons will remember always the tragedy and its lessons.

Ormoc officials welcomed the memorial bill. Councilor Mario Rodriguez, for one, said: “We hope this will finally become a law to give Ormoc a time to look back. “A people who does not know its past will not learn its lessons.” (FREEMAN)