August 27 2012 Philippine holiday – National Heroes’ Day
The Philippines will commemorate the annual Araw ng mga Bayani (National Heroes’ Day) this coming August 27 2012. The day, which is celebrated every last Monday of August, is a national holiday. This is in accordance with Proclamation 295 signed by President Benigno Aquino III in late 2011. The said holiday creates another three-day weekend for the month of August (as noted in previous posts, Eid’l Fitr will be on August 20, a day before the Ninoy Aquino day).
The last week of August is of great significance in Philippine history. According to historian Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses, national hero Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan officially began the war of independence against the Spanish colonial government in late August, 1896*.
The Cry of Pugadlawin (Sigaw sa Pugad Lawin), which heralded the beginning of the revolution, happened during this time. Most Filipinos associate the event with the Katipuneros’ tearing of their respective cedulas, although the exact date and place of the “cry” remains the subject of dispute among historians to this day (Agoncillo puts it at August 23).
As mentioned above, August 27, 2012 is a national holiday. As per the pay rules set by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), employees who will report for work on the said day are entitled to get 200% of their regular hourly pay for the first eight hours of service rendered (colloquially referred to as “double pay”). Meanwhile, those who choose to not work will still get their daily salary in full.
Be present in the work day before a holiday
According to DOLE’s Handbook on Worker’s Statutory Monetary Benefits (published 2010), employees will only receive the mandated holiday pay if “he/she is present or is on leave of absence with pay on the work day immediately preceding the holiday.” The 2010 handbook can be downloaded in this link.
*Agoncillo, Teodoro A. The Revolt of the Masses (1956 ed.). University of the Philippines Press. Quezon City. pp. 149-153
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