Supporters celebrate Ferdinand Marcos birthday in Ilocos Norte

Supporters started a weeklong celebration of the late President Ferdinand Marcos birthday in Ilocos Norte, with Ilocanos using the internet to honor “Apo Lakay.”

The 103rd birthday celebration of the former dictator came after the House of Representatives passed a bill aiming to declare September 11 as a holiday in Ilocos Norte province.

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Among the activities during the Ferdinand Marcos birthday is a two-day medical mission for residents which would be held at Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in the city of Batac starting today, said Senator Imee Marcos.

A similar activity would also commence at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City. The hospital was built during the Marcos regime in 1981.

Imee said “malunggay-fortified and squash-filled nutribun” would be distributed to front-liners in hospitals and health facilities in Metro Manila.

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The nutribun, a vitamin-packed bread, was also distributed to children in the 1970s when Marcos was still the President.

Meanwhile, activities such as poetry writing, poster-making, singing, and cooking would be done online, said Aianree Raquel, provincial tourism officer.

Also read: Bongbong Marcos to run for national post in 2022

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Ferdinand Marcos birthday celebration

A live stream of Ferdinand Marcos birthday celebration would be posted on the “Marcos Centennial” Facebook page. Contest participants would submit their entries to the email that would be posted on the Facebook pages “Marcos Fiesta Official” and the provincial government.

The online activities would prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ilocos Norte as cases start to increase in some parts of the province.

The House of Representatives on September 4 approved on the final reading the bill that would declare September 11 as “President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte. A total of 197 members voted for the bill while nine were against while one abstained.

Ilocos Norte Representatives Ria Fariñas and Angelo Marcos Barba, and Probinsyano Ako Rep. Rudy Caesar Fariñas sponsored the bill.

According to source documents provided by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the Marcos family stole US$5–10 billion. It also maintained that the Marcos family enjoyed a decadent lifestyle, taking away billions of dollars from the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. His wife Imelda Marcos, spawned the term “Imeldific.”