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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4883

House Bill No.

Introduced by
HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to declare November 8 of every year as a special non-
working public holiday in the highly urbanized city of Tacloban, the provinces
of Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, (Western) Samar and
Eastern Samar and the independent city of Ormoc to commemorate the
onslaught of typhoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan).

Over the course of less than 24 hours on November 8, 2013, Typhoon
Haiyan cut a swath of destruction across the central part of the Philippines,
severely affecting parts of Eastern Visayas. The typhoon also precipitated a
storm surge in the seas around the coastal towns of Eastern and Western
Samar and Leyte, in particular the city of Tacloban that led to grave loss of life
and massive damage to property. It is one of the strongest storms ever
recorded with wind speeds of more than 300 km/h and storm surges of over
four (4) meters

The storm surge precipitated by the typhoon in its coastal towns
claimed thousands of lives and wrought massive destruction to private and
public properties. An estimated 12.2 million people (2.6 million families) were
reported to have been affected by the disaster, with more than 90 percent
coming from the Visayas region. As of December 12, 2013, there were 5,982
reported fatalities; more than 80 percent were from the three Leyte towns of
Tacloban, Palo, and Tanauan. A further 27,022 people were reported injured,
with 1,779 persons still missing.

A total of 1,192,091 houses are reported damaged, of which 593,785
are reported to have incurred more than 50 percent damage, leaving behind
tens of thousands of internally displaced individuals. The total damage and
loss from typhoon Haiyan has been initially estimated at PHP 571.1 billion
(equivalent to USD 12.9 billion). The impact of strongest typhoon in recorded
history was most heavily felt by the economic and social sectors, which
together sustained nearly 93 percent of the total damage and loss.

The pain caused by Yolanda is somewhat negated by the phenomenal
opportunity to be able to build back better, given the overwhelming support

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that comes our way in many forms — humanitarian aid for immediate disaster
relief, funding assistance for rehabilitation and recovery projects, and even
technical assistance willing to be shared by experts on understanding better
the disaster that hit us and preventing another one from hitting us in the
future.

For the last three years, through a local executive order, the city of
Tacloban and the provinces of Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Northern
Samar, (Western) Samar and Eastern Samar have been observing an annual
commemoration of typhoon Yolanda.

This bill is intended to be a fitting tribute to the memory of all who died
in the said disaster and to salute the selflessness of all volunteers and
organizations who took part and contributed in the recovery and rehabilitation
efforts of the communities affected by the typhoon.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill js earnestly sought.



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
4883

House Bill No.

Introduced by

HON. YEDDA MARIE K. ROMUALDEZ

AN ACT DECLARING NOVEMBER 8 OF EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL NON-
WORKING PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN THE EASTERN VISAYAS REGION TO BE
KNOWN AS THE “YOLANDA COMMEMORATION DAY”

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of the Representatives of

the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 4. November 8 of every year is hereby declared a special non-
working public holiday in the highly urbanized city of Tacloban and the
provinces of Leyte, Biliran, Souther Leyte, Norther Samar, (Western)
Samar and Eastern Samar to commemorate the onslaught of typhoon
Yolanda (Haiyan), to honor the memory of all who died in the said disaster
and to salute the selflessness of all volunteers and organizations who took
part and contributed in the recovery and rehabilitation efforts of the
communities affected by the typhoon.

Section 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.