Labor chief: Too many holidays affect competitiveness, productivity

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on Saturday acknowledged that too many holidays may affect the productivity and competitiveness of Philippine industries, a major consideration among investors.

"Kapag napakaraming holiday... kung magtatrabaho ang manggagawa, may karagdagang premium pay... Dapat may balanse," Laguesma said in an interview on Dobol B sa GTV.

(If there are too many holidays... and employees report for duty on those days, additional premium pay should be provided... There should be a balance.)

"Kung napakaraming holidays, bukod sa national holidays ay mayroon pang local holidays… bahagi 'yan ng tinitignan ng investors o potential investors," he said.

(If there are too many holidays, wherein there are national holidays aside from local holidays... investors take these things into consideration.)

The Labor chief made the remark after Senate President Franchis "Chiz" Escudero said that the Senate has agreed to limit the approval of bills on local holidays as lawmakers want the country to become "more competitive."

Laguesma said the number and frequency of holidays should be balanced as it could affect competitiveness and productivity of workers and industries.

"Kung mayroon nang pormal na panukala... kung may pag-aaral na, puwedeng magkaroon ng konsultasyon. Ipapatawag ang mga sektor na maaaring maapektuhan kung sakaling isabatas ang ganyang panukala," he said.

(We can conduct consultations if there is already a formal proposal and study. We can call for the participation of sectors which may be affected should such a proposal be signed into law.)

Escudero said that there are local holidays in every city, municipality, and province, on top of the national holidays and religion-related holidays.

However, labor group NAGKAISA opposed the proposal, saying holidays provide workers with "much-needed respite from the daily grind."

The organization also called on Congress to focus on addressing other pressing issues including the traffic woes in Metro Manila, and job "insecurity" in the country. — VDV, GMA Integrated News