Araw ng Davao now on March 1

AT THE PRODDING of his hometown, President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that effectively restores the city’s Araw ng Dabaw to its historically accurate date, March 1, instead of 16.

President Duterte signed on Aug. 22 Republic Act No. 11379 or “An Act Declaring March 1 of Every Year a Special

Working Holiday in the City of Davao, Province of Davao del Sur, to be Known as “Araw ng Dabaw,” Repealing for the Purpose Republic Acts Numbered 7551 and 7685.”

Section 1 of the law, according to a copy of the document from the government’s official gazette, states that “March 1 of every year is hereby declared a special working holiday in the City Of Davao, Province of Davao del Sur [sic], to be known as “Araw ng Dabaw,” in commemoration of its founding anniversary.

The law further added that the President may declare March 1 as a special non-working holiday every year through a Presidential Proclamation.

Councilor J. Melchor Quitain, Jr., in a message to TIMES, said he was hoping Congress would automatically declare March 1 as a special nonworking holiday instead of a special working holiday that could be declared non-working through a proclamation.

Councilor J. Melchor Quitain, Jr., said the city was originally founded on March 1, 1937, with later city councils interchanging the Araw ng Dabaw with its Foundation Day.

“Historically I want it to be corrected because March 1 was indicated when I take up documents coming from the city council in 1960 when Mayor Lopez was still the City Mayor,” Quitain said in an earlier interview.

He also added that March 1 is what was written at the landmark in City Hall.