President Arroyo, on Jan. 10, signed Proclamation No. 1211 setting the calendar of holidays for this year, beginning with the observance of the Holy Week this month to All Saints’ Day in November and Christmas in December. Based on the proclamation, the country now has eight long holiday weekends.
In the proclamation, April 7 (Black Saturday) is a special non-working holiday. This weekend turns out to be the year’s longest because it stretches to Monday, April 9, Bataan Day, which is another non-working holiday.
Weathermen expect fair weather conditions to prevail in most parts of the country, although the passage of the tail-end of the cold front will result in scattered light rainshowers in some areas of Luzon and the Visayas.
The year’s second long holiday is from April 28 (Saturday) to May 1 (Tuesday), Labor Day.
Since the June 12 Independence Day, which is a non-working holiday, falls on Tuesday, Malacañang has decreed June 11 a non-working day. Nov. 2 and Dec. 24, which fall on Friday and Monday, respectively, are also special non-working days. – Helen Flores