Ley 136 del 2001
Resumen
Esta ley designa el 12 de noviembre de cada año como el Día del Escritor Puertorriqueño en honor a Alejandro Tapia y Rivera. La ley busca reconocer y homenajear a los escritores puertorriqueños, tanto vivos como fallecidos, y encomienda al Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña y al Departamento de Educación la organización de actividades conmemorativas.
Contenido
(No. 136)
(Approved September 28, 2001)
AN ACT
To designate the $12^{ ext {th }}$ day of November of each year as the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer.
STATEMENT OF MOTIVES
Writers interpret the senses, loves, and hopes of their homeland. They represent the conscience of their country. They gather in their works the collective pulse and sentiment of their people. Writers are the memory of the country when they write its history, recount its feats and praised its values. Puerto Rico has bred countless extraordinary writers who have both in the past and in the present extolled the greatness of our country. Many of them are not even remembered, nor is an intellectual interest stimulated to exalt their names. This Legislature deems that one of the best ways to remember these writers is by the legislative designation of the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer. Thus, we shall pay homage and acknowledge writers both from the past and the present.
In the Old San Juan cemetery, the tombs of some of the most renowned Puerto Rican writers are preserved. Among these, there are the tombs of Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, José Julián Acosta, José De Diego, Mariano Abril, José Gautier Benítez, José Pérez Lozada, René Marqués, Nilita Vientós Gastón, Arturo Morales Carrión, José Daubón, and many more. Some of these tombs are abandoned and in ruins. The Institute of Puerto
Rican Culture, the Government of the Capital City and writers associations could assume the responsibility of conserving these abandoned tombs, as their part in keeping with the observance of this date.
The designation of the Day of the [Puerto Rican] Writer should serve as an opportunity to acknowledge and pay homage to writers both living and dead. The $12^{ ext {th }}$ day of November has been selected as the date for the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer because it is the birth date of Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, who is one of our most important writers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:
Section 1.- The $12^{ ext {th }}$ day of November, the birthday of Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, is hereby designated to be the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer.
Section 2.- The Governor of Puerto Rico shall, through a proclamation, urge the People of Puerto Rico to commemorate the $12^{ ext {th }}$ day of November of each year as the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer.
Section 3.- The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall adopt the necessary measures to meet the purposes of this Act, through the organization and holding of acts as a tribute to and in acknowledgement of Puerto Rican writers.
Section 4.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 136 (H.B. 663) of the $1^{ ext {st }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to designate the $12^{ ext {th }}$ day of November of each year as the Day of the Puerto Rican Writer, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $23^{ ext {rd }}$ of November of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director