Solon: ‘Adlaw hong Butuan’ bill nearing enactment

THE Lower House has approved on second reading a bill that seeks an official declaration of an “Adlaw hong Butuan” or Charter Day of Butuan.

The bill, authored by Rep. Lawrence Fortun and filed as House Bill 5061 in September last year, seeks to make Aug. 2 as the official Adlaw hong Butuan.

The measure, once finalized, would make Aug. 2 of every year as a special non-working day in Butuan.

Fortun said the bill that passed the House Committee on Revision of Laws, hurdled the second reading and has been scheduled for further action towards enactment.

By declaring Aug. 2 of each year as a special non-working holiday in the city, Fortun said he hopes to recognize Butuan’s historical niche as an ancient city and pay homage to the men and women who have contributed to its progress and development that should serve as inspiration and example to our people.

Butuan became a political entity in 1907 through the enactment of Act No. 1693 and a city by virtue of Republic Act No. 523, otherwise known as the Charter of the City of Butuan, which was signed into law on Aug. 2, 1950. Since then, the people of Butuan have referred to the second day of August as the ‘Adlaw Hong Butuan’ or the Day of Butuan, which they commemorate every year in remembrance of its rich history, and great achievement, and the significant contributions of its people.

The city boasts of a rich cultural heritage–it has over 1,600 years of recorded history, and it is known to be the “Home of the Balangays,” the ancient boats used in traversing Asia in the pre-colonial times, the oldest of which was carbon-dated 320 AD.

Butuan is also host to the Bequibel Shell Midden that is proof to civilized human existence in the area as early as the Neolithic Age.

Fortun said Butuanons have long proudly claim that “in the beginning there was no Philippines, but there was Butuan.”