Puerto Rico House holds special session honoring fathers, reads motion reaffirming Father's Day law

The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico held a special session in the Hemiciclo on June 12, 2025, to honor fathers, featuring an invocation, personal testimonies from legislators and honorees, and a ceremonial reading of a motion reaffirming the observance of Father’s Day under Ley Núm. 356, enacted Dec. 23, 1999.

Pastor Josué Carrillo opened the session with an invocation that quoted Psalm 127 (Nueva Traducción Viviente): “Los hijos son un regalo del señor, son una recompensa de su parte. Los hijos que le nacen a un hombre son como flechas en manos de un guerrero.” The invocation included a prayer of blessing for the fathers present.

Portavoz Torres Zamora read a House motion of felicitation citing Ley Núm. 356 (Dec. 23, 1999), which “establece el tercer domingo del mes de junio como el día de los padres,” and said the chamber “reafirma su compromiso de reconocer sus logros y aportaciones a nuestra sociedad.” The reading described fathers as “forjadores de vida” whose work and example contribute to community stability.

Several legislators and delegation spokespeople delivered remarks and named honorees invited to the chamber. Representative Denis Márquez Lebrón (delegation of the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño) recognized a list of individual honorees and highlighted the role of fathers in community life. In his remarks Márquez Lebrón introduced Charlie Justino Lugo and described his personal story of recovery and caregiving: “Charlie es un paciente rehabilitado de Anska, es un ejemplo de vida,” and noted that Charlie now works for the recovery organization and cares for a young person with intellectual disability under his guardianship.

The delegation of Proyecto Dignidad, represented by Lis Janeth Burgos Muñiz, offered remarks emphasizing a traditional view of fatherhood and named Pedro Montañez Serrano as an honoree, detailing his pastoral and community work and a project in Honduras that provides shelter for victims of human trafficking. The Popular Democratic Party delegation, represented in remarks by Edgardo Feliciano, and the New Progressive Party delegation, represented by José Aponte Hernández, also spoke and named honorees from their districts.

The event was ceremonial: the motion of felicitation was read in the chamber and accepted by an invited honoree, Julio Rivera Saniel, but no roll-call vote or formal recorded vote accompanied the reading. The presiding officer closed the special session at 12:40 p.m. and reminded members that the regular session would begin at 1:00 p.m.

The ceremony combined scriptural invocation, personal testimony and official recognition; it focused on honoring individual fathers and reaffirming the statutory observance of Father’s Day under Ley Núm. 356. Photographers and television crews were permitted to enter the hemiciclo for official photographs, with a reminder that members could not be interviewed on the floor during the ceremony.