Say goodbye to holiday economics of P-Noy's predecessor PGMA who made it a policy to move holiday observances except those which are religious, to a weekend Friday or Monday, if it falls on a weekday.
I am one of those who agree with Mrs. Arroyo's holiday economics policy. She ratified RepublicAct 9492 in 2007 "to reduce disruption to business and production schedules, encourage domestic tourism and give employees long weekends." Robert Lim Joseph, chairman emeritus of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas) recognized the strong relationship between tourism and economic growth. He said last year that "domestic tourism offers the biggest hope for the country to keep not just the industry but the economy alive.”
Alas, Proclamation No. 84 was signed yesterday, December 20, 2010. Most of the dates fall on a weekend, specifically eight weekends. Here's the the regular and special holiday for the year 2011:
January 1 (Sat) - New Year's Day
February 25 (Fri) - EDSA Revolution Anniversary (note: holiday only for all schools)
April 9 (Sat) - Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valour)
April 21 - (Thu) - Maundy Thursday
April 22 (Fri) - Good Friday
May 1 (Sun) - Labor Day
June 12 (Sun) - Independence Day
August 21 (Sun) - Ninoy Aquino Day
August 29 (Mon) - National Heroes Day
November 1 (Tue) - All Saints Day
November 30 (Wed) - Bonifacio Day
December 25 (Sun) - Christmas Day
December 30 (Fri) - Rizal Day
December 31 - (Sat) - Last day of the Year
For the observance of Islamic Holidays' Eid'l Fitr (to observe the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting) and Eid al-Adha (or the Feast of Sacrifice which occurs at the conlucsion of the annual Haij or pilgrimage to Mecca), Section 2 of the Proclamation states that [it] "shall heareafter be issued after the approximate dates of the Islamic holidays have been determined in accordance with the islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations, whichever is possible or convenient. To this end, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) shall inform the Office of the President on which day the holiday shall fall."
No need to wait for NCMF's advise. Thanks to google, I found the dates! The dates specified in the year of Hijra for Eid al-Fitr is on August 30, 2011 (Tue) and for Eid al-Adha, November 6, 2011 (Sunday).
