1979 in the Philippines

1979 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1979.

← 1978 1977 1976 1979 in the Philippines → 1980 1981 1982
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	List of years in the Philippines films

Incumbents

President Ferdinand Marcos at the White House in 1966.

• President: Ferdinand Marcos (KBL)
• Prime Minister: Ferdinand Marcos (KBL)
• House Speaker: Querube Makalintal
• Chief Justice:
  • Fred Ruiz Castro (until July 2)
  • Enrique Fernando (starting July 2)

Events

March

• March 29 – A fire in a discothèque and massage parlor in Manila kills 15 persons.^[1]

April

• April 10 – Presidential Decree No. 1616, an act to create an Intramuros Administration for the purpose of restoring and developing Intramuros is enacted.^[2]
• April 18 – A typhoon kills at least 12 persons, left hundreds homeless, and caused property damage estimated at $3.5 million.^[1]

May

• May 7 – Sangguniang Pampook elections are held for the Regional Legislative Assembly of the former Autonomous Regions in the Philippines which are the Region IX and Region XII.

October

• October 31 – Project Gintong Alay, a national sports program commences.

December

• December 20 – A bus plunges into a river in Isabela, killing at least 50 persons.^[1]

Holidays

Main article: Public holidays in the Philippines

As per Act No. 2711 section 29,^[3] issued on March 10, 1917, any legal holiday of fixed date falls on Sunday, the next succeeding day shall be observed as legal holiday. Sundays are also considered legal religious holidays. Bonifacio Day was added through Philippine Legislature Act No. 2946. It was signed by then-Governor General Francis Burton Harrison in 1921.^[4] On October 28, 1931, the Act No. 3827 was approved declaring the last Sunday of August as National Heroes Day.^[5] As per Republic Act No. 3022,^[6] April 9th was proclaimed as Bataan Day. Independence Day was changed from July 4 (Philippine Republic Day) to June 12 (Philippine Independence Day) on August 4, 1964.^[7]

• January 1 – New Year's Day
• February 22 – Legal Holiday
• April 9 – Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor)
• April 13 – Maundy Thursday
• April 14 – Good Friday
• May 1 – Labor Day
• June 12 – Independence Day
• July 4 – Philippine Republic Day
• August 13 – Legal Holiday
• August 26 – National Heroes Day
• September 21 – Thanksgiving Day
• November 30 – Bonifacio Day
• December 25 – Christmas Day
• December 30 – Rizal Day

Entertainment and culture

For the events related to Philippine television in 1979, see 1979 in Philippine television.

• July 30 – Eat Bulaga!, the longest running noon-time variety show in the Philippines, premiered on RPN. It was also aired on ABS-CBN from 1989 to 1995, GMA Network from 1995 to 2023 and the TV5 since 2023.^[8]
• November 12 – Melanie Marquez is crowned as Miss International 1979 in the pageant night which was held in Mielparque, Tokyo, Japan.

Births

• January 18 – Mark Anthony Fernandez, actor
• January 21 – Rex Gatchalian, politician
• January 29 – Marvin Agustin, actor, chef, and entrepreneur
• January 30 – Richard "Muji" Rivera, A heavy weight bodybuilder of the 90's
• February 23 – Wacky Roxas, actor
• March 1 – Lee Vann Corteza, pool player
• March 4 – Mariz Umali, broadcast journalist
• March 17 – Sarji Ruiz, actor
• April 10 – Ryan Agoncillo, film and television actor, model and photographer
• April 14 – King, singer
• April 26 – Neil Ryan Sese, actor
• May 9 – Ara Mina, Actress and singer
• May 11 – Eric Yap, politician
• June 9 – Steven Alonzo, actor, musician and Voice Unlimited member
• June 14 – Ren-Ren Ritualo, basketball player and coach
• July 20 – Claudine Barretto, actress
• August 16 – Sarah Balabagan, prisoner and singer
• August 22 – Angelu De Leon actress
• September 22 – Jericho Rosales, actor and singer
• September 23 – Maureen Larrazabal, actress
• September 24 – Julia Clarete, actress, singer, and host
• September 28 – Amanda Griffin, actress, TV host and commercial model
• October 2 – Mark Vernal, actor
• October 4 – Zen Hernandez, broadcast journalist
• November 19 – Mark Caguioa, basketball player
• December 10 – Lui Villaruz, actor and TV director
• December 12 – Carlos Agassi, actor and model
• December 17 – Denise Joaquin, actress

Births unknown

• Babylita Mariano, actress, model, singer and TV host (Member Testimonial of EZShop)

Deaths

• June 9 – Rudy Fernandez, labor leader
• September 4 – Canuplin,^[9] Filipino stage performer and magician