CITY OF SAN FERNANDO —- "It's a fitting tribute to his birthday on February 19."
Thus said former Pampanga Fourth District Board Member Ricardo Yabut as he disclosed on Saturday that the monument and marker for the late Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos -- a Kapampangan martyr born on February 19, 1886--- in Malabang town in Lanao del Sur province has been finished and given that much needed face-lift.
“It was upon the prodding of our former President and Pampanga Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and constant follow ups by Governor Lilia Pineda that the monument and marker were finished in time for his birth anniversary,” Yabut said.
He told Sun.Star that he and his brother, Public Works Undersecretary Rafael Yabut, will fly to Lanao Del Sur to represent Mrs. Arroyo---who signed the marker---and Governor Pineda in a simple ceremony to mark the renovated site of the Fernandino hero where he was believed to be executed by musketry by the Japanese Army on May 2, 1942, when Abad Santos was acting Commonwealth President.
Yabut added that Kapampangan pride has been heightened with the completion of the monument and marker, which his brother pushed when they saw it neglected during a recent campaign sortie when the former board member was gunning for a partylist post in 2016.
Undersecretary Yabut, he said, then presented to Mrs. Arroyo and Governor Pineda three new designs. Pampanga officials then sought out donors for the renovation and improvement of the site, which sits on a private lot, with a monument constructed by Freemasons in 1959. Many years after, the City Government of San Fernando put up its own commemorative marker in Malabang in 2009.
But Abad Santos’ grave has not been found since the war ended in 1945.
“Nevertheless, we are gratified and wish to extend our deepest gratitude to Congresswoman Arroyo and Governor Pineda for the fitting honor to our Kapampangan martyr Jose Abad Santos, who is the pride of Pampanga,” concluded Yabut. (JTD)