CEBU CITY—President Duterte said he sign an executive order that will declare October 26, the burial day of the late Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, as a nonworking holiday in Cebu.
Duterte visited Vidal’s wake at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral at past midnight on Monday after gracing the Masskara Festival in Bacolod. He said that, as soon as he got back to Manila, he would immediately sign the executive order declaring a holiday in Cebu on Thursday.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino requested Malacañang to declare October 26 a holiday in Cebu.
“Indeed a pivotal shepherd for 29 years in our archdiocese, the declaration of a holiday on the occasion of Cardinal Vidal’s interment will enable our people to pay their last respects to the beloved Cardinal,” Dino said in a statement.
Dino told reporters the executive order could be signed as early as Tuesday.
While the Archdiocese of Cebu has not officially requested for the holiday, media liaison officer Monsignor Joseph Tan said the Church welcomes the move of Dino and other local officials.
“If it is extended to us, by all means, we are more than grateful for the thoughtfulness of paying respect for the funeral of Cardinal Vidal,” Tan told reporters.
Duterte dropped by Cebu in an unannounced visit from Bacolod City and spent about 20 minutes in the wake, joining Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and hundreds of Cebuanos in paying their last respect to the late Cardinal.
Palma thanked Duterte for visiting the wake of Vidal despite his tight schedule. Duterte apologized that he was not immediately able to fly to Cebu after Vidal died because of his schedule, but said that he felt the need to visit the wake to condole with Cebuanos.
Duterte left the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral past 12:30 a.m. on Monday.
Vidal will be laid to rest on October 26 at the mausoleum inside the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, according to the funeral details finalized by the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Vidal will be buried beside the tomb of the late Cebu Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales inside the mausoleum ordered built by Rosales in 1983.
The cathedral mausoleum serves as the final resting place of prominent bishops of Cebu like Cardinal Rosales, Bishop Emeritus of Calbayog Sincero Lucero, Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu Manuel Salvador, Archbishop Emeritus of Lipa Mariano Gaviola and the first Bishop of Cebu Juan Gorordo.
The Cathedral will be closed from midnight of Wednesday and will only be reopened at 7 a.m. the following day. Tan said people would be allowed in on a first-come, first-served basis.
The necrological Mass for the Cardinal will start at 8 a.m. The Cardinal will be laid to rest at 9 a.m. at the mausoleum within the church compound.
Image credits: L’Osservatore Romano/CBCP