[UNPOPULAR OPINION] Why People Power Anniversary Should Be a Special Working Day Instead

 

As a blogger, I shouldn't turn on the PC in hopes of becoming popular. It should be to turn on the PC and blog to make a difference. Right now, I think about the controversy when President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. declared the 1986 EDSA Revolution's anniversary as a working holiday. The call for some of the "minority lawmakers" is that they want to return the People Power Anniversary to a regular holiday once more. There are times I feel like, "Should we let it be a regular holiday again, so as not to repeat the Marcos dictatorship?" Sadly, the real answer is that the Philippines has been relying too much on EDSA, so it's practically ending up like Nokia.

I was thinking about the reality of February being the most hectic month. February only has 28 days (and February 25 is near the month's end). I thought that the Philippines also has too many national holidays more often than not. In fact, the Inquirer article written by Raul J. Palabrica is this hard hitting truth about the issue:

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.

The issue is that, as much as I'm pretty mixed right now with Bongbong, we need to ask ourselves these questions:

1. Did Bongbong say that it would be illegal for schools and universities to set the People Power Anniversary as a school holiday? 
   
2. Did Bongbong say that it would be illegal for businesses to voluntarily close on the People Power Anniversary? 

The answers are definitely no. Bongbong hasn't made a presidential declaration to make it criminal for schools, universities, and businesses to close on the People Power Anniversary. In fact, declaring EDSA as a special working day isn't diminishing its value. We might want to talk about basic economics here. In doing so, I feel that even if this could only be temporary, we need to think:

1. Businesses need to pay an extra 30% for people who show up for work during a non-working holiday. By declaring EDSA a special working day (which is honoring EDSA while at work), we are certainly helping businesses earn more profits, which means more taxes for the government.
2. Institutions have the right to declare a school holiday even when it's not a national holiday. As I celebrated Chinese New Year, I think it should be a special working day where Chinoy schools can declare it a day off for their students, while the nation is still at work. It's pretty much day off for the Chinoy schools; Chinoy-owned businesses may choose not to open, but the pay rate still remains the same for the day.
3. For certain religious events, we can declare Roman Catholic days as holidays into "special working days" instead. A Roman Catholic has the right to request leave on Ash Wednesday. We can it that a Muslim can have the right to request leave for a leave on the start of Ramadan, the end of Ramadan, and the Feast of Sacrifice. Again, this is under freedom of religion. On December 8, it should be a Special Holiday where Roman Catholic schools can declare a school holiday or pay everyone for that day of rest, it's their choice. However, on December 8, the rest of the country is still obliged (by default) not to go below regular rates. 
   
4. For Chrstmas (December 24-25) or Holy Week's Maundy Thursday and Good Friday non-working days, I propose that the only reason why they're closed is that the majority of the workers are Roman Catholics. They should only be closed due to impracticality, and the Philippines isn't a theocracy. 
   
5. Certain days may need to mimic the Singaporean model too. For example, I want to turn August 21 into a special working day instead. Benigno Simeon A. Aquino Jr. 

Hopefully, my proposal to turn every religious observation into a non-working holiday is this. It's to avoid too much clutter and too much pressure on the employment force. Private institutions have a right to declare their institutional holiday, give bonuses on certain days, etc. Government intervention with with economics is good. However, too much government intervention with economics isn't good. 

We may need to remember Singapore more than ever. Neither the late Lee Kuan Yew's birthday or his death anniversary, are holidays in Singapore. I even feel like that if EDSA should be honored, remember people were working double time to get rid of a dictatorship. People should think tht EDSA 1986 was all about work. So why demand a holiday when the people actually worked on that day to depose a dictator?