May 5, Ozamiz Day is special working day in Mis. Occ.

By Rutchie C. Aguhob

Friday 4th of May 2012

OZAMIZ CITY, Misamis Occidental, May 4 (PIA) -- The City of Ozamiz will be celebrating the 114th birth anniversary of the late Senator Jose Fortich Ozamiz, a hero and martyr, tomorrow, May 5.

The day has been declared a special working day in the province of Misamis Occidental and its component cities per Republic Act 6738, enacted into law was by the House of Congress and the Senate and approved by the late President Corazon C. Aquino on Aug. 4, 1989.

Born on May 5, 1898 in Aloran, Misamis Occidental, to parents Genaro Ozamiz and Basilisa Fortich, Senator Ozamiz was elected as the First Representative of Misamis to the House of Representatives in 1931, and got re-elected to the same position in 1934.

The following year, he was elected to the 16th Constitutional Convention representing the lone district of Misamis Occidental.

In 1936, he was again elected as the first and only Senator to come from the province and nominated as Assistant Minority Floor Leader of the Senate in 1940.

He was a reserve officer of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) with the rank of Major, during the Second World War, on December 8, 1941.

Senator Ozamiz was arrested by the Japanese on Feb. 11, 1944, and imprisoned in Fort Santiago, Manila for his involvement in the guerilla movement and was beheaded a few months later.

It was only two years after the beheading when his body was found, along with 29 other Filipino guerrillas who suffered the same fate under the Japanese.

In his inaugural speech at the Luneta Park, the late President Manuel A. Roxas, upon his installation as the First President of the newly independent Philippine Republic, said, “Senator Jose Ozamiz is a man whose loyalty, integrity and courage stand out as an example for all to follow. He could have lived an easy life, by relaxing on his principle and his conscience. I am one of those with reason to be grateful that he did not, for had he chosen to live, he would be where I am today, and I would be where he is.”

The late Congressman Hilarion Ramiro of the Second District of Misamis Occidental passed in 1988, Republic Act No. 6736, “An Act Declaring May 5 of every year as Ozamiz Day and a Special Working Holiday in the province of Misamis Occidental and the component cities, thereof, in honor of the late Senator Jose F. Ozamiz.”

It was then enacted into law by the House of Senate headed by Jovito Salonga, Senate President and House of Representatives headed by Ramon Mitra, Speaker of the House of Representatives on June 8, 1989.

Meanwhile, Mayor Nova Princes E. Parojinog-Echavez of Ozamiz, will lead the memorial ceremony for Senator Ozamiz at the Heroes Park, Port Road, this city, tomorrow, May 5.

The activities will start at 7:30 a.m. with an invocation by Rev. Fr. Marvin O. Osmeňa, Asst. Parish Priest of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.

It will be highlighted by a floral offering, to be done by the Mayor, together with Carmen F. Ozamiz, daughter of the late Senator, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan led by Vice-Governor Henry S. Oaminal, the Ozamiz City Council and the Association of Barangay Councils led by former Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog, Sr., among others. (PIA 10, Mis. Occ.)