MANILA, Philippines – The office of the President of the Philippines under Benigno Aquino III has just signed Presidential Proclamation Number 655 declaring the official regular and special (working and non-working) holidays for the year 2014.
The list of regular, non-working holidays are:
- 1 January (Wednesday) – New Year’s Day
- 9 April (Wednesday) – Araw ng Kagitingan
- 17 April – Maundy Thursday
- 18 April – Good Friday
- 1 May (Thursday) – Labor Day
- 12 June (Thursday) – Independence Day
- 25 August (Last Monday of August) – National Heroes Day
- 30 November (Sunday) – Bonifacio Day
- 25 December (Thursday) – Christmas Day
- 30 December (Tuesday) – Rizal Day
The list of special non-working holidays are:
- 31 January (Friday) – Chinese New Year
- 19 April – Black Saturday
- 21 August (Thursday) – Ninoy Aquino Day
- 1 November (Saturday) – All Saints Day
- 24 December (Wednesday), 26 December (Friday) – Additional special (non-working) days
- 31 December (Wednesday) – Last Day of the Year
Special holiday (for all schools):
- 25 February (Tuesday) – EDSA Revolution Anniversary
It is interesting to note that for the year 2014, Malacañang Palace decided to declare December 24 (Wednesday) and December 26 (Friday) as additional special non-working holidays. This will allow workers in the Philippines to enjoy a long, 5-day weekend starting from December 24 (Wednesday) up until December 28 (Sunday).
In addition, two national holidays for the observance of Islamic festivities Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha will beannounced later. The announcement will come from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra).
All in all, Filipinos will be enjoying a total of 19 regular and and special non-working holidays plus one school holiday for the year 2014.