Senate President Francis Escudero clarified on Monday that the Senate is not seeking to reduce the number of existing holidays in the Philippines. During an ambush interview with reporters, Escudero emphasized that while the upper chamber believes there are already too many holidays, it does not intend to cut the current ones.
“There is no issue with the existing holidays. The Senate’s stand is not to increase the number of existing holidays because there are too many already. We have no intention of reducing them,” Escudero stated.
He also pointed out that the Senate is not considering adding more holidays, stressing the need for thorough discussions on the matter. “Right now, we have more than 23 to 25 local and national holidays. Let’s not add more,” he said.
Escudero further mentioned that there are no Senate committees currently studying the possible merging of Philippine holidays, nor is there an existing directive to explore this option.
The Senate President concluded by noting that the task of evaluating the impact of holidays on worker productivity and other related issues would likely fall to future congressional sessions.