Business groups buck moves to add non-working holidays

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s largest local and foreign business groups have jointly opposed moves to increase the number of non-working holidays in the country, citing its negative consequences to the economy and its competitiveness.

In a letter to Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture, 13 of the country’s most influential foreign and local business groups have expressed concern over proposed bills seeking to add new non-working holidays in the calendar year.

“The Joint Foreign Chambers and Philippine business groups request the Senate to consider the negative consequences legislating any additional non-working holidays,” the groups said.

“With the recent enactment of the law declaring Dec. 8 of every year as a non-working holiday to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the chambers and business groups are increasingly concerned that the high number of regular and special non-working holidays is damaging the competitiveness of the country,” they added.

In the business process outsourcing alone, the chambers estimate that every non-working holiday costs P750 million in extra expenses for overtime.

“While we do not have data on the effect of paid holidays on other industries, we should recognize the severe impact that additional paid holidays will have on other large sectors of the economy including manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and tourism,” they said.

“Further, day workers lose a day of pay on holidays when they have no work,” the groups added.

Citing data from the Department of Labor and Employment, the business groups said the total number of non-working holidays celebrated in the Philippines for the past five years have ranged from 21 to 25.

For this year, they said total number of non-working holidays for most companies could hit 21, higher compared to the country’s main competitors for investment in the region like Malaysia (14), Thailand (17) and Vietnam (12).

“Instead of creating more non-working holidays through legislation, national competitiveness can be protected by making clear that both the executive and legislative branches will only support new working holidays and are opposed to new non-working holidays,” the groups said.

“The economy is growing at sustained high and more inclusive levels, foreign direct investment has reached record levels, job creation is strong, and poverty is declining. At the same time, our competitors are not sleeping and work hard to improve the success of their companies and workforces. The Philippine economy should do the same to achieve Ambisyon 2040,” they added.

At present, there are three bills in the Senate to legislate non-working holidays – July 27 (Iglesia ni Cristo Founding Anniversary), Aug. 9 (Indigenous People’s Day), and Dec. 25-Jan. 1 (special non-working holidays).

On top of these, the business groups said there are eight bills pending to legislate more non-working holidays in the House of Representatives.

“We commend the actions of the Senate to pass legislation that recognized the faith of the majority of Filipinos without placing any financial burden on employers by adding another paid holiday,” the groups said.

The Philippine business groups are composed of the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Semiconductors Electronics Industries in the Philippines and Bankers Association of the Philippines.

The JFC, meanwhile, is a broad coalition composed of the American, Australian-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese, Korean chambers and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc.