April 3 eyed as a local holiday

CEBU, Philippines - To make the historical event more significant to Cebuanos, Cebu City’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission is eyeing the declaration of every April 3 as a holiday so as to better commemorate the battle of Tres de Abril.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, CHAC chairman, said he wanted that such holiday be declared to give tribute to the revolutionaries who fought against Spanish oppressors during the said battle.

He said that because of the revolutionaries headed by Leon Kilat, we now enjoy the essence of what freedom is.

“Ang awareness sa atoang kabatan-onan unsa ka importante ang Tres de Abril battle sa kasaysayan...sa atong pagpakigbisog pagpakigbugno against foreign subjugation in order to breathe the air of democracy,” Labella added.

He, however, said that the National Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission need to be consulted first.

“Tungod sa Tres de Abril madagison ang lain natong revolutionaries against foreign subjugation. And it is significant because it happens in Cebu City,” he further said in yesterday’s commemoration of the 119th anniversary of Battle of the Tres de Abril.

The celebration was supposed to be held at the Tres de Abril marker in Barangay San Nicolas Proper at 7 a.m. but due to the rain that resulted to flooding in several streets of the city, Labella decided to transfer it to the city’s Sinulog Hall.

The celebration included a flower offering headed by Labella and north district Representative Raul del Mar, together with San Nicolas Proper Barangay Captain Abraham Desamparado and boy scouts from the University of San Jose-Recoletos and several City Hall employees.

The Tres de Abril battle was the first battle between revolutionaries and the Spaniards in Cebu. The location of the battle near the Taboan Public Market now has a marker and the street that wounds its way from San Nicolas Proper towards Barangay Labangon is now named after the event.

A few blocks from Tres de Abril Street is Leon Kilat Street, a street named after revolutionary leader Pantaleon “Leon Kilat” Villegas, who led the April 3, 1898 battle but was betrayed and killed in Carcar early morning of April 8, Good Friday, by Cebuanos led by his aide-de-camp Apolinario Alcuitas.

If later on April 3 is declared a holiday, it would be the fourth in April in Cebu, as April 9 (Araw nga Kagitingan or Bataan and Corregidor Day), April 13 (Maundy Thursday), and April 14 (Good Friday), are also holidays. April 15, Black Saturday, has been declared a special non-working day.

Also, under Labor Advisory No. 13 or Payment of Wages for the Regular Holidays and Special Non-Working Days for 2017 issued by DOLE last September 2017, the following are a few of the pay rules for regular holidays:

• If an employee did not work, he/she shall be paid 100 percent of his/her salary for that day. The COLA is included in the computation of holiday pay. Sample computation: [(Daily rate + COLA) x 100 percent];

• If an employee worked, he/she shall be paid 200 percent of his/her regular salary for that day for the first eight hours. The COLA is also included in the computation of holiday pay. Sample computation: [(Daily rate + COLA) x 200 percent].

• If an employee worked in excess of eight hours (overtime work), he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his/her hourly rate on said day. Sample computation: [Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked].— Odessa O. Leyson, Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon (FREEMAN)