While I agree that keeping the holiday on the day of the actual holiday preserves the solemnity of the observance, I believe Malacañang was very inconsiderate in issuing Proclamation No. 13 stating that "Ninoy Aquino Day shall be observed this year as a nationwide special (non-working) holiday on 21 August 2010 (Saturday) instead of August 23."
Holiday economics has induced people to plan their travel early. I personally have booked tickets on the previously scheduled long-weekends this month. It's totally naive of Malacañang to think that most people plan their travel back home to the provinces or for recreation just a few days before a holiday. What do they want our countrymen to do, forfeit their plane, ferry or bus tickets? Cancel paid hotel bookings? Take leaves from work or absent kids from school because of long-scheduled family vacations? Could this be a result of the executive disorder the Philippine Daily Inquirer was talking about?
Any changes to holiday economics should be done next year. And policy has to be made clear so people would not anticipate any more long-weekends. Unless the president wants to be accused of siding with business interests again, I do hope he reconsiders this decision because many of our countrymen are looking forward to these long-weekends later this month.
Update (08/13/10): According to Malacañang, August 30 will remain a non-working holiday in observance of National Heroes Day.
Boo on this one, P-Noy!
ReplyDeleteistu ka ken cabalen..they should have retained the holiday economics policy..yun na nga lang ang naiwang magandang programa ni PGMA inalis pa
ReplyDeleteIf they remove holiday economics, local tourism would be affected.
ReplyDeletewla namang magandang pr0gramang naiwan c PGMA. tama lang. New Pres. new p0licy,new h0liday, dapat lang na new ang lahat.
ReplyDelete@@maiintindihan yan ng lahat ng t0urist.
wakasan na ang kabulukan!
@Lovelyn, a lot of families are going on vacation. If he wants a new program, then let him do it next year. Matagal na nakaplano lahat ng tao. Ano gusto niya gawin namin, itapon namin lahat ng tickets namin?
ReplyDeletekorek ka dyan ivan =)
ReplyDeleteHindi naman objective si pnoy eh, personal na galit sya kay gma kaya lahat ng ginawa ni gma itatapon nya. Bulok na sistema. Ang susunod sa katungkulan laging binabasura o pinuputol ng bigla ang anumang proyekto o panukala ng nakaraang administrasyon (pangloka man o nasyonal) kaya ang nangyayari nasasayang lang ang mga nasimulan, hindi napagiisipang mabuti kung nakakabuti o hindi. Ito ang kabulukang dapat wakasan. Tama bako o mali?
ReplyDeletea lot of the local resorts and tourist spots have benefited immensely from the holiday economics, that's why local tourism has gone up during the past few years. If he's going to trash this law, a lot of small businesses in the tourism sector will be affected
ReplyDeletemost of the time, he doesn't know what he's doing. ugh.
ReplyDeleteHey Ivan, any truth to the rumor that Malacanang is now considering not declaring August 30 a holiday as well?
ReplyDeleteAgree with Ca de Ramos - Noynoy getting rid of holiday economics tells me this about him: like his mom (RIP, sumalangit nawa), he thinks everything done by his predecessor is wrong/bad.
ReplyDeleteWell, someone has to tell him he's dead wrong about that.
@Che, unfortunately there's truth to that as wel
ReplyDeleteI dislike the proclamation. IMO, contrary to its claim, varying holiday schedule, rather than pre-announced sched, disrupts government and private transactions. Businesses make plan at the beginning of the fiscal year
ReplyDeleteThat's right! Businesses knew about this as early as July 2009 when GMA issued the proclamation. If there's any disruption, it's coming from Malacañang
ReplyDeleteunderstandable bias.. It's hard to chew and see the better side of something that foremost personally inconveniences us.
ReplyDeleteI just thought you'd have been more objective, Ivan. Especially since you have business people like us as readers who don't really benefit as much from the 'holiday economics'.
agree with ca de ram0s.
ReplyDeletepero bag0ng pilipinas na tau ngaun kaya aksy0n agad wla ng pabukas bukas.
take n0te: hndi si pin0y ang galit kay PGMA kundi C PGMA ang galit kay P-N0Y.
ReplyDeleteif they want a vacation, mag leave kayo sa trabaho! I work in a company that doesn't close during holidays but i can still go on 3 to 5 days vacations every month... We 30 days Vacation leaves every year... Blame the company that you work for not NoyNoy.
ReplyDeleteBrod, was planning nga sana to go to Baguio with the kids but was shot down kasi urong-sulong (personal opinion- not because of politics)
ReplyDeletethats right ate candice!
ReplyDeletesa lahat ng may hangover pa ng administrasy0ng aroyo, m0ve on eka nga ni pacman.
icpin ang kapakanan ng nkararami at hndi ang pansariling kapakanan lang.
i dont think the point is people want GMA's program. the fact is, may mga taong nakaplano nang mag out of town based on the operative fact when the trip was planned na walang pasok sa 23 and 30, at hindi sila gagamit ng VL. however, RA 9492 being passed into law 2009 pa, businesses have also calendared their activities at the start of the year. kaya nga may publication requirement ang batas, so that people are constructively informed. therefore,ang issue ay hindi kung ang dapat iblame ay si ang company we work for or si noynoy. ang issue ay kung posible bang nalabag ang karapatan ng mga tao sa biglaang paglipat ng petsa ng holiday, na sa simula pa lang ng taon ay naka kalendaryo na, not just for individual employees, but also for the businesses, being part of the Official Calendar of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of RA 9492
ReplyDeleteivan,
ReplyDeletei believe your point of view is very limited,
only for those who planned long weekends.
for majority of the people, specially those that
can earn a minimum wage on august 23, this is good news.
and you're completely ignoring the whole point:
the issue of delicadeza.
step backwards and consider this again,
but not just from what affected you, your long weekend.
there's a much bigger statement here.
and were you complaining when GMA
ReplyDeletesuddenly declared holidays in 2009?
the INC anniversary, her last SONA?
of course not.
@Lovelyn, pansariling kapakanan? Sorry, I don't need to take leaves. I'm thinking of the tourism-related industries and their employees who will suffer from this urong-sulong mentality of government. And that's a big sector because tourism-related industries covers a lot of enterprises.
ReplyDelete@Spanky, you're starting to sound like Noynoy's apologist. As I said, if he wants to change the holiday economics policy, let him do it next year. A lot of families and even workers are looking forward to go home to the provinces. I'm sure many people have already made arrangements.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes Spanky, I complained when GMA made changes to holidays too, particularly Eid al-Adha. I'm consistent about sudden changes in holidays. Read my blog before you make claims.
Totally agree with you on this. It's not the cancellation of the holiday economics policy per se that irks me. It's the fact that he chose to apply it THIS YEAR. After people have made plans, spent money, adjusted schedules and all. Is it so difficult to have started applying the changes next year?
ReplyDeleteMasama na bang maging sabik sa holiday / pahinga?
the holiday leave economics is a LAW, passed by Congress. the president can't just override the law. he is supposed to follow it
ReplyDeleteyou're missing the real issue of DELICADEZA.
ReplyDeletereally? apologist, no. clear eyed observer yes.
you should try it, instead of just looking at the limited issue
of inconvenienced long weekends for the minority
that can afford them. well, hello VL!
Minority? A whole industry and their employees will be screwed because of this change. Problem with people who claim to be clear-eyed observers, is they don't really see the whole picture.
ReplyDeletethis would affected the local tourism...
ReplyDeleteit's the majority of the real tax payers (who incidentally are paying for the government's salary) are the ones affected here. i have no problem with him removing the holiday economics. but it would have been considerate of him to have done this next year. companies and employees have already planned for these holidays. some of you tell us to just take a VL... for some, VL's are "gold" since these are convertible to cash and they wouldn't want to waste it. or some are maybe saving it for the Christmas season.
ReplyDeletei don't have any plans for the 2 long weekends. but i was looking forward to simply having time to relax without having to subtract from my VL credits or having to take time off coz i'm sick.
oh and by the way, these long weekends were supposed to have helped our kinsmen in the provinces. i just came from the mountain last week, & DENR is actually encouraging people to trek the mountains and pay porters. why? coz if there's not much visitors, then they'd have to resort to planting vegetables and to do this they'll do kaingin, ruining our natural resources.
ReplyDeleteisn't it wonderful how everything just connects?
I agree that P-Noy should have implemented the changes NEXT year. As previously mentioned, the OFFICIAL announcement came from Malacanang and so businesses and schools calendared the holidays accordingly. To make changes at this late stage is very inconsiderate.
ReplyDelete@Lovelyn Tuatis: 1. I'm not pro-GMA; I'm not pro-PNoy as well. Pero, kung nakinig ka ng SONA, walang binatikos si PNoy sa mga economic programs ni GMA. 2. How can you say that GMA is against PNoy? On what grounds? 3. Wakasan ang kabulukuan. Matutong mag-type ng tama.
ReplyDelete@Ca De Ramos: That is the Filipino-Style of politics. They base it on personality and not on programs.
@Candice Neri: That is such a selfish and arrogant way of seeing this issue. A bigger majority of our workforce don't have VL's, much less any Leaves.
@Spanky Enriquez: What's your point on Delicadeza? That we should really celebrate Ninoy's death exactly on Aug 21? Tell me, when did you last stop and thank Ninoy for his death?
The issue here is not the date of the holiday but whether we Filipinos really commemorate it or not. We always look forward to our holidays/vacations; Yet we forget to look back and remember the sacrifices that were offered in order to give us whatever fruits, may they be holidays, that we enjoy.
@Lovelyn Tuatis: 1. I'm not pro-GMA; I'm not pro-PNoy as well. Pero, kung nakinig ka ng SONA, walang binatikos si PNoy sa mga economic programs ni GMA. 2. How can you say that GMA is against PNoy? On what grounds? 3. Wakasan ang kabulukuan. Matutong mag-type ng tama.
ReplyDelete@Ca De Ramos: That is the Filipino-Style of politics. They base it on personality and not on programs.
@Candice Neri: That is such a selfish and arrogant way of seeing this issue. A bigger majority of our workforce don't have VL's, much less any Leaves.
@Spanky Enriquez: What's your point on Delicadeza? That we should really celebrate Ninoy's death exactly on Aug 21? Tell me, when did you last stop and thank Ninoy for his death?
The issue here is not the date of the holiday but whether we Filipinos really commemorate it or not. We always look forward to our holidays/vacations; Yet we forget to look back and remember the sacrifices that were offered in order to give us whatever fruits, may they be holidays, that we enjoy.
I really think this is not an issue of u liking PNoy or not. Delicadeza or no delicadeza! I have to agree with Ivan on this..VL sure! But the thing is the long weekends are a luxury people actually look forward to! That's why other people planned their vacations early. VLs are such an easy escape sure..pero iba pa rin the long weekends!
ReplyDeleteAnd with GMA she didn't really move the actual celebrations. If National Heroes Day fell on a Sunday, the ceremonies were still held on the day itself. She just gave people a day to have a break for that holiday! I think this is the only thing GMA did right.
This is really bad decision making on PNoy's part. People should not get clouded over the fact that PNoy is the pag-asa and all that hooplah on his personality. THIS IS BAD JUDGMENT PERIOD! Makes PNoy a TRAPO. Alisin ang magagandang programa ng nakalipas na administrasyon! Some delicadeza here!
Sana lang hindi sila nagde-decide o nagpapalit ng desisyon "a week before" the holiday. Isantabi man ang mga nakapagplano na ng mga bakasyon, paano ang mga kumpanyang kailangang i-set in advance ang schedule ng produksyon, deliveries, etc?
ReplyDeleteTama, maari naman nila itong itama sa susunod na taon. Lalo pa't hindi rin naman sila agad nakapag-decide.
Madali para sa ibang sabihing "Mag-VL" ka na lang, dahil sarili mo lang ang sagutin mo at responsibilidad mo. At yan ay kung "bakasyon" lang ang isyung tinutukoy.
ReplyDeletePero para sa mga nangangasiwa ng kumpanya at produksyon at baguhin ng biglaan ang mahigit isang taon nang naka-set, hindi isang simpleng pagfa-file lamang ng papel yan.
I have a client who is also a teacher in a University. He booked Air Asia tickets back in April covering the August 23 holiday. Unfortunately now, since the tickets he bought are promo tickets and cannot be rebooked, he had to buy new return tickets for August 22, because he, his wife, and his kids have to report on August 23. And this has caused them big bucks! Ang VL ay para lamang sa mga empleyado. Paano na ang mga estudyante? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Bad, bad move.
ReplyDeletePresident Aquino wants to have a holiday on the day when his father was shot. Holiday or no holiday, I will say a prayer for Ninoy's son to be worthy of such sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can take Vacation Leaves but...you could have taken your vacation leave on a better time, right? Like maybe November-February when the weather is cooler here or when it's summer here. I mean, for a long weekend, hindi ka naman siguro maglolong flight like US or Europe diba? So malamang, dito ka iikot sa Pilipinas or our neighboring countries which pretty much have the same type of weather. Basically, you booked a flight or scheduled a long drive BECAUSE it was declared a holiday. It is your time to explore your country or the neighboring countries without hurting your office record. Consequently, because of these long weekends, you are constantly REMINDED of what the holiday is about instead of many people just sitting at home, sleeping or working on August 21 with not much reminder that hey, Ninoy Aquino was shot and it changed our history!
ReplyDeletePS: Vacation Leave is different from holiday. If you take your VL now, baka maubos na yan for the summer. I agree with you, Ivan, that he has the power the change everything next year.
My husband works in Cebu and we live here in Manila. I have booked him in an airline to leave Cebu by Aug 21 morning and leave Manila on Aug 23 evening. The cancellation of Aug 23 holiday will mean that I need to reschedule the flight from Aug 23 evening to Aug 23 first flight in the morning. This means additional expense of P672.00 for us due to the rescheduling of flight. This is very sad as my husband goes to Manila only every other month to be with us. I hope P-Noy will be more careful next time in making decisions. I personally feel that he made a wrong decision on this.
ReplyDeleteMelanie Cruz
I actually agree with PNoy on this one. It never made any sense to me to "create" a weekday holiday when the holiday falls on a weekend. Although his policy is not clear I expect he'll revert back to setting Monday holidays if these fall on weekdays. Let's give him a chance. No one said holiday economics is dead.
ReplyDeleteAs for all those countrymen who were inconvenienced by this announcement, too bad. He has other worries on his mind than ruining the vacations of the few of you that booked ahead. I believe a single day of national productivity far outweighs the carefully laid out plans of the few of you who can afford to go on vacation.
It doesn't make sense either to retract the declared holiday one week before. As I said, he can do it next year.
ReplyDeleteTo those few who said that we can use our VL, thank you for the stupid suggestion. I think you guys belong to the minority. A 'majority' of the working population (and that includes me) live far away from their families, therefore, VLs for us are very important since it is only during our vacation leave that we are given the chance to be with our loved ones.
ReplyDelete@Spanky: I don't get this delicadeza thing. This is selfish of the President to not consider the "majority". Nagpapasikat na wala sa ayos. Puro naman palpak since Day 1. Read Inquirer's Executive Disorder so you can learn more.
@Lovelyn Tuatis: I don't get your comments. Hindi ako maka-gloria. Hindi ako maka-noynoy. But for you to say na hindi galit si Noy kay Gloria, mukhang kailangan mo pang manood ng TV, magbasa ng dyaryo, o di kaya i-replay ang SONA o inaugural speech ni Noy. Please think before you type your next comments.
Thank you.
I agree with you that all amendments should be applied on the following year.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of holiday economics, at hindi lang naman tayo ang nagppractice nito. Even advanced countries. And the best thing about is: employees have more time for their families. :)
Sna hwag na alisin ang holiday economics, siguro bawasan pwede pa. :)
BOO P-noy.. kokontra kanalang ba kay GMA sa lahat ng bagay...matagal na nakamindset sa mga tao ang holiday na ito since the start of the year pa. so why not change schedule of holiday next year...
ReplyDeleteBOO tlaga kay P-noy! nagpapansin nalang ata talaga...!
ReplyDeleteI support you Ivan that PNoy should implement the changes next year because the scheduled dates have been already published and a lot of travelers have made arrangements. I had foreseen this happening that's why I didn't make arrangements. It just shows how we Pinoys rule ourselves as we "rule according to the weather." I spoke once to Senator Gordon and thank him for the holiday economics because it was thru this program that I got to appreciate the Philippines better and made the tourism industry affordable. My heart bled when I had our janitor not make money on added holidays but at the same time became happy for those who worked on this holidays.I liked the original program of Senator Gordon to move holiday dates to make people enjoy them longer. What I don't like it PGMA's adding of other holidays. National Heroes day was never a holiday in the past. It was always celebrated in the last Sunday of August. My stand for the holiday economics is:
ReplyDelete1. Maintain the 2010 proclaimed dates, 2. Implement the changes next year, 3. Reduce holidays like the Edsa holiday 4. When a holiday falls on a weekend, dont change it anymore as remember our country needs to work hard and we need to catch up with Asian neighbors. Please remind PNoy that he was one of the signatures to this law as Sen. Joker Arroyo said. God bless
I hope Ivan that you can relay these concerns to your friends in DOT. What the tourism industry accomplished of increasing the local tourism traffic will be negated by the new policy of PNoy. One doesnt change policies overnight.
ReplyDeleteThe original post that Malacanang has cancelled August 23 and left it as August 21 is AWESOME for the Philippines. It is about time that a President of the Philippines makes real, common sense decisions. For too long now the Filipino has nver had someone to do the right thing in office. The one in office has always tried to benefit his or her self with all the decisions they make. Noynoy is finally doing things right!!!!! Yes, he will suffer backlash, but, as with anyone that institutes change for the good for the people, he must continue to forge ahead with "trying" to make the Philippines a respectable country.
ReplyDeleteThe Philippines need to buck up and do things right. The current president is trying to lead us in that direction. So, you don't get a long weekend......SO WHAT!!! We will never get ahead with ALL the extra long weekends we have in this country anyway with how the past presidents change the day of holidays to accomodate their lifestyle. What makes a day honoring someone special if we change their day? Wake up Filipino, a day loses its specialty when we change it. We take a day and honor someone, then we want the day to benefit us. WHAT A LOUSY EXCUSE FOR DECLARING A HOLIDAY IN THE NAME OF SOMEONE SO WE CAN BENEFIT!!!! As always, the Filipino never wants to honor someone else UNLESS there is something in it for them. Come on country, we claim to be a Christian country, but when something happens that we don't like, we complain!! That sounds like something Christ would do. Don't call yourselves a Christian and not do the things that Christ would do.
Also, why move a holiday so we can get off work? We need to be doing more work here. It is time to grow up Philippines and become a proud nation that has a good work ethic.
Well, I hope this gets posted. Since it has to go through the moderator. We'll see, he should post it.
Your comment got posted because it was stupid. As I said he can do that next year. Canceling a holiday one week before is equally stupid. Many spent a lot of money to make changes to their plans.
ReplyDeleteAnd talk about bad karma today! Sheesh! Where's the President of the Republic of the Philippines when you need him? Still preparing a boo-boo proof statement?