Ilocos town enjoys holiday

MANILA, Philippines — Residents and workers in Dingras, Ilocos Norte are enjoying a holiday today in observance of the birth anniversary of World War II heroine Josefa Llanes-Escoda.

Llanes-Escoda, who founded the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, was born in Dingras on Sept. 20, 1898.

Malacañang issued last Friday Proclamation 58 declaring Sept. 20 a special non-working holiday in Dingras.

Llanes-Escoda is considered as one of the country’s “most illustrious women who championed civic and social services.”

She had been described as the “Philippine’s Florence Nightingale” for showing genuine commitment for the poor and the needy.

She was executed along with other war prisoners by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1945.