Palace: June 13 not a holiday

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang clarified yesterday that June 13 – which happens to be a Friday – won’t be declared a holiday even if it falls between Independence Day and the weekend.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said the President has issued Proclamation 55, which provided a list of holidays and special holidays for 2014.

During the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, such days are usually declared a holiday to allow everyone to enjoy a longer weekend and boost the country’s tourism industry.

“June 13 was not among those declared a holiday, so this will be a regular working day for everybody,” Coloma said.

In February, the EDSA anniversary celebration was made a regular working day for employees both in the government and public sectors, but was a holiday for students in all levels.

Coloma said under Proclamation 655 (Series of 2013), the EDSA People Power Day is merely a school holiday.

“This simply means that there will be no classes in all levels, but this will be a regular working day,” he said over state-run radio dzRB.

For the first time in 28 years, this year’s EDSA anniversary was celebrated not in Metro Manila but in the Visayas.

Coloma said it was Aquino’s wish to transfer the celebration from Manila to Cebu, as he wanted to revisit the areas affected by the calamities before he left for an official visit to Malaysia on Feb. 27-28.

The EDSA anniversary was themed “Kapit-Bisig Tungo sa Pagbangon.”

“The President said it was important to rally the people in the calamity-affected areas to rekindle the spirit of EDSA People Power in building back better communities. Hence, the original plan to commemorate the event in Malacañang was shelved,” Coloma said.