Cebu holiday for cardinal’s funeral

CEBU CITY - President Duterte said on Monday he will declare October 26 a holiday in Cebu province, as a tribute to the late Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Duterte made the pronouncement during his visit at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral here, where he paid his last respects to Vidal.

The prelate will be laid to rest at the mausoleum adjacent to the cathedral in the morning of that day.

Duterte arrived at the mother parish of the Cebu Archdiocese just past midnight Sunday, and was greeted by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and other local church officials.

In a short speech, Duterte apologized for not paying homage to Vidal earlier, saying he had a lot of paperwork to do.

The President flew to Cebu unannounced from Bacolod City Sunday where he attended the climax of the MassKara Festival.

He spent over 20 minutes at Vidal’s wake and left the cathedral at around 12:30 a.m for Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City to fly back to Manila.

Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said he will dig deeper into the details of the President’s declaration and said that they are expecting the executive order to be signed today.

Last Friday, Dino sent a formal request to the Malacañang recommending the declaration of October 26 as a holiday in Cebu.