Quite a lot of Filipinos were infuriated when President Rodrigo Duterte canceled three public holidays from 2021 yesterday, turning them into special working days instead.
Duterte signed Proclamation 1107, which declared Nov. 2 (All Soul’s Day), Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve), and Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve) as working days. Duterte said in his proclamation that it was necessary for Filipinos to work because the country “needed to recover from the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In previous years, all three days were public holidays, so people were aghast upon learning that they have to slave away on those dates. Tweeted someone named @ajzuwaa, “The nerve of Duterte in removing those holidays as if he works every day.”
The president has been known to vanish from the public eye for days, even during times of calamities. Since the pandemic began he appears once a week, usually on a Monday night in a pre-recorded televised briefing, but some people have joked that it was the only day that he actually works as the head of state.
kapal ng mukha ni duterte magtanggal ng holiday as if naman nagtatrabaho siya everyday
— alexa (@ajzuwaa) February 27, 2021
“Duterte is an idiot. People will just go on leave on those special working days,” wrote @buonnatale_.
Tanga netong si Duterte, magVVL ang mga tao dyan sa special working holidays na yan. Anong tunay na rason? The economy aint gonna be helped if yall make 3 holidays mandatory for work 🙄
— Ingrid Woodhouse (@buonnatale_) February 26, 2021
“[D]id Duterte consider mental health? [N]ow more than ever and specially at the end of the year, [P]inoys whose mental health has been battered to breaking point for more than a year need to be with family & friends w/c these holidays do to restore our mental health,” wrote @wawam.
did Duterte consider mental health? now more than ever and specially at the end of the year, pinoys whose mental health has been battered to breaking point for more than a year need to be with family & friends w/c these holidays do to restore our mental health.
— WhatAWasteofAdMoney (@wawam) February 26, 2021
So, how do you feel about Duterte’s decision? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
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