Citing the need for the economy to recover from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic; the importance of avoiding gatherings and to continue social distancing, President Duterte has slashed three holidays in the calendar.
IN A move that might meet some opposition from the public, President Rodrigo Duterte has deleted three public holidays this year that Filipinos traditionally look forward to and instead made them into regular working days.
These are November 2 (All Souls Day); December 24 (Christmas Eve) and December 31 (New Year’s Eve) are now workdays.
In explaining his decision, Duterte cited the need for the economy to recover from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic; the importance of avoiding gatherings and to continue social distancing as the reasons for cutting the number of holidays for 2021.
Several concerned citizens, however, said Proclamation No. 1107, practically deprived them of something that they used to enjoy and benefit from.
“These three holidays provided the Filipino workers and entrepreneurs a much-needed break with their families and have become their source of physical, mental, social and psychological ‘recharging’ from the drudgery of work,” Mary, 36, an employee from Makati said.
“Duterte is an idiot. People will just go on leave on those special working days,” wrote a netizen.
“[D]id Duterte consider mental health? [N]ow more than ever and especially at the end of the year, [P]inoys whose mental health has been battered to breaking point for more than a year need to be with family & friends w/c these holidays do to restore our mental health,” wrote @wawam.