LAOAG CITY — To honor a great man who devoted most of his lifetime in public service, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan have unanimously passed on Tuesday a resolution seeking for the declaration of April 22 as Roque R. Ablan Jr. Day in the province.
The former Ilocos Norte Congressman of Ilocos Norte’s first district was buried Thursday, April 5. He would have turned 86 on April 22, 2018.
Sponsored by Provincial Board member Da Vinci Crisostomo, in his capacity as chairperson of the Committee on Laws, Resolution No. 2018-03-201 seeks to request Rep. Rodolfo Farinas of Ilocos Norte’s first district and Rep. Imelda Marcos of the second district to sponsor a bill in Congress, declaring the birth date of the late solon on April 22 as Roque Ablan Jr. Day in the entire province of Ilocos Norte.
Ablan, a lawyer and long time ally of the late president Ferdinand Marcos, served for eight terms as representative of the first district of Ilocos Norte province from 1967 to 2010, except in 1998 to 2011.
As a soldier, the old Ablan was also among those who fought for freedom during the Vietnam war.
At 31, he served as senior board member of Ilocos Norte, and as chair of the League of Board Members from 1963 to 1967.
Known in Ilocos Norte as “Alikabok,” Ilocanos remember Ablan as a humble man with a generous heart as he never turned down those who sought his help.
His nephew, Laoag City Councilor Roque Benjamin Ablan, said Wednesday President Rodrigo Roa Duterte even offered that he would be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
But it was his lolo’s last wish to be buried beside her mother, Manuela, fondly called in the province as Lola Mining, at the Maharlika cemetery in this city. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
