Oversupply of national holidays

In a speech in a forum held recently by the Management Association of the Philippines, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual had said the ideal number of national holidays was 10.

According to Pascual, that’s the number of annual holidays that international organizations, like the Asian Development Bank, generally observe.

Under Proclamation No. 90 of President Marcos, this year, the country will observe 10 regular holidays and eight special (nonworking) days. In addition, depending on the Muslim calendar, there will be no work on the feast days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, for a total of 20 national holidays.

That does not include the special holidays declared in the country’s 18 regions, 82 provinces and 145 cities to commemorate the date of their founding, the birth date of their famous deceased sons and daughters, and historical events that happened in their places.

And when typhoons, floods and other natural calamities happen, some executives of local government units are quick to order the cancellation of work and classes in their areas of governance.

The holidays whose dates can be moved to allow extended weekends have been bruited as a form of “holiday economics” as it would supposedly encourage domestic travel and increase tourism expenditures in the country.

The flip side of many holidays, however, is businesses that are, by the nature of their operation or have production commitments to their customers, obliged to continue to operate during those days and, in the process, incur additional operating expenses in terms of premium (or overtime) pay for their employees.

For employees whose wages are paid on a “no work, no pay” basis, or depending on the number of hours they actually worked, e.g., construction workers and delivery service crew, and who constitute roughly 60 percent of the country’s labor force, the holiday fever is a pain in the neck.

The loss of pay hits harder if Saturday is a working day for them and it is declared a holiday to provide for a long weekend, or a holiday is declared a day or two before its effectivity and they are financially unprepared for the sudden holiday declaration.

In the latter case, they have no choice but to further tighten their already tight belts or seek out Indian moneylenders for “5-6” loans to tide them over the holiday.

But for employees who are paid on a monthly basis, or regardless of their actual days of work, and have ample disposable income, long holidays are heaven-sent.

The jury is still out on whether the objectives of holiday economics had been met in the years that the observance of national holidays had been moved to make for long weekends.

To date, no study has been published by the government that would show that the economic benefits of holiday economics outweigh the loss of productivity during the holidays, or are otherwise worth the loss of income to millions of Filipinos who work on a “no work, no pay” basis.

Of course, for the country’s 1 percent, the opportunity to go on long vacations without feeling guilty about missing work is most welcome. But for the 99 percent who have to cope with the high cost of living and make do with meager wages, those days are not something they look forward to. In fact, they detest them.

Time and again, the foreign chambers of commerce in the country have expressed their dissatisfaction with the adverse effects of too many holidays on their businesses.

The country’s 20 annual holidays (and counting) compare poorly with those of neighboring countries with whom the Philippines is competing for foreign investments, i.e., Malaysia, 14; Thailand, 17; and Vietnam, 12.

Does it come as a surprise that those countries are way ahead of the Philippines in terms of foreign direct investments and national productivity?

Every day unnecessarily spent on idleness or bumming around in the malls (for those who have extra money to spend) represents a day’s loss of productivity that cannot be recovered or compensated by overtime work.

Pascual’s call to limit national holidays to 10 is a long shot in light of existing laws. Nice try anyway. INQFor comments, please send your email to “[email protected].”