A CLOSE ally of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has filed a bill in Congress declaring Sept. l1, Marcos' birthday, as "President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Day."

House Bill No. 5147, filed by Ilocos Norte Congressman Roque Ablan, was among the seven measures designating local holidays that the House of Representatives committee on revision of laws approved Monday, committee secretary David Cosalan said.

The Ablan bill calls for only Ilocos Norte province, where the Marcoses trace their roots, and Laoag City to celebrate the special non-working holiday.

Congressman Satur Ocampo, a political prisoner during the dictatorship, would have none of it.

"Declaring a 'Marcos holiday' would be the height of insult to the victims of human rights violations during martial law, even if it only covers his home province and city," Ocampo said in a statement, "more so since the victims continue to cry for justice more than a decade after a US court ruled in their favor."