THIS WEEK’S MILESTONES
Feb. 7 to Feb. 13
Feb. 8, 2003
The Designers Guild of Iloilo City held a fashion show in Iloilo City to showcase the use of “patadyong,” also called as “traditional hablon,” in their avante-garde creations. The patadyong used by the group of Ilonggo fashion designers were woven by Indag-an Multipurpose Cooperative, a farmer’s cooperative in Miag-ao, Iloilo province. Patadyong, known for its striped and checkered patterns, is a textile made of materials such as cotton, jusi (banana fibers with silk), piña and silk woven using handloom or “tiral.” Iloilo’s textile industry saw its heyday in the 1800s, but eventually declined when the province was opened to world trade and cheap British cotton was imported.
Feb. 11, 1993
The Evelio B. Javier Day was celebrated for the first time in the provinces of Antique, Capiz, Aklan and Iloilo, following the passage of Republic Act No. 7601, signed by then President Corazon Aquino in June 1992. The yearly event commemorates the former Antique governor and anti-Marcos activist, who was shot dead in broad daylight on Feb. 11, 1986, while overseeing the canvassing of votes from the snap elections. An airport in San Jose town, capital of Antique, was renamed after Javier during his 16th death anniversary in 2002. He was also one of the first 65 people honored as heroes by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in 1992 for defying the Marcos regime.
Feb. 11, 2019
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources started enforcing its closure order on gold processing plants in the mining village of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo town, Davao de Oro (formerly Compostela Valley) province. The closure and eventual relocation of the plants to a tailings containment facility in Barangay Upper Ulip paved the way for the rehabilitation of Naboc River. The unregulated proliferation of the processing plants caused pollution and other environmental problems in the village because mineral waste laced with mercury and cyanide were thrown into waterways that end up in the river.
Feb. 13, 1998
The former town of San Fernando in La Union province became a city through Republic Act No. 8509, the city charter, signed by then President Fidel Ramos. The town’s conversion to a city was approved by a majority of the residents in a plebiscite held a month later, with “yes” votes representing 68.35 percent of the total votes cast. The provincial capital of La Union has 59 barangays and is home to more than 120,000 people. The city generated a net income of P349 million in 2019 and had assets of 1.987 billion in the same period. Canceled events: Due to the national public health emergency in relation to the new coronavirus disease, the Asin Festival in Dasol, Pangasinan; the Utanon Festival in Dalaguete, Cebu; and the Budbod Kabog Festival in Catmon, Cebu, scheduled between Feb. 7 and Feb. 13, have been canceled by the local governments concerned. Meanwhile, most of the activities for the Kali-kalihan Harvest Festival in Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental province, scheduled within the said dates, will be held online. Compiled by: Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research Sources: Inquirer Archives, officialgazette.gov.ph, Filway’s Philippine Almanac, sanfernandocity.gov.ph, bantayog.org, psa.gov.ph, coa.gov.ph, thecorpusjuris.com