A Philippine labor official on Tuesday urged Congress to strike a balance between celebration and economic activity as lawmakers weigh 17 bills that would establish local holidays across the island groups of Luzon and Mindanao.

"DoLE (Department of Labor and Employment) respectfully recommends that local commemorative events be considered as special working holidays in order to strike a balance between meaningful celebration and economic activity," Jean C. Orsolino, a legislative liaison specialist at DoLE, told a Senate hearing attended by several district representatives.

Ms. Orsolino said the department is not opposing the measures but is weighing the potential economic impact of declaring additional special non-working holidays.

The economic dimension the department is weighing is spelled out in Philippine labor rules. Employees who work on a special non-working holiday are generally paid an additional 30% of their daily wage for the first eight hours, while daily wage earners who do not report for work typically go unpaid. Special working holidays, by contrast, are compensated at the regular daily rate without premium pay. That difference is why the classification attached to each proposed holiday carries cost consequences for employers and pay consequences for workers in the localities involved.

Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Government, agreed that a balance must be struck, noting that provinces usually observe one non-working holiday followed by a working holiday.

General Santos City Rep. Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles said proponents are merely seeking to institutionalize Feb. 27 as Foundation Day, because the local government unit proclaims it a special non-working holiday every year.

"It is too cumbersome to be applying every year and then waiting if the declaration will come out, so the activities and celebrations are really on hold," she said, adding, "[T]here is nothing to lose because we have been doing it every year."

Measures declaring local holidays in the Philippines generally require approval from both chambers of Congress and the President's signature before they take effect, typically as Republic Acts. For the 17 bills now pending, clearing those steps is what would convert occasions like the Feb. 27 Foundation Day described at the hearing from annual proclamations into holidays fixed in law — with the choice between working and non-working status, and the pay rules attached to each, part of the balancing act laid out at the hearing.

— Francessca S. Abalos, BusinessWorld