Francisco Baltazar holiday in Bulacan – April 2, 2012

President Benigno Aquino III has declared this coming Monday, April 2, a holiday in the province of Bulacan. This is in commemoration of legendary Filipino literary icon Francisco Baltazar (or Balagtas)’s 224th birth anniversary. Baltazar was born April 2, 1788 in the town of Bigaa (eventually renamed Balagtas, Bulacan). The announcement was made through Proclamation 355, which you can read in its entirety here. PP 355 aims to give residents of Bulacan the “full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.”

Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar (1788-1862)

The pay rules for special non-working holidays like the coming Francisco Balagtas day in Bulacan is governed by Department of Labor and Employment’s Memorandum Circular 01, first crafted in 2004 under then-Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas. According to this, employees who report for work on this day must get an additional 30% to their regular pay for the first eight hours of service provided, plus another 30% for every hour of work beyond this.

Meanwhile, employees who will not go to work won’t be paid, “unless there is a favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment of wages on special days even if unworked.” This is usually dependent on a worker’s employment status (e.g. permanent/regular/tenured employees are typically paid on these days while those whose who are still labeled as casual/probationary workers are not).

PS: In the past 24 hours, I am seeing this warning in Facebook whenever I comment to my own public posts: “If your comment is irrelevant or inappropriate, you may be be blocked from commenting on public posts. Please review your comment before posting.” Weird, isn’t it?

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Mark Pere Madrona

The Filipino Scribe (TFS) is managed by Mark Pere Madrona, a multi-awarded writer and licensed professional teacher from the Philippines. Mr. Madrona earned his master’s degree in history from the University of the Philippines-Diliman last 2020. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism cum laude from the same university back in 2010. His area of interests includes Philippine journalism, history, and politics as well as social media. Know more about him here: https://www.filipinoscribe.com/about/.

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