President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo grants labor’s wish

We commend President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for acceding to the request of several labor groups to withdraw her order moving this year’s Labor Day celebration from May 1 to April 29. It is very difficult to commemorate any historical event on another date and celebrating Labor Day on May 1 has been a long Philippine tradition. The best proof is the fact that we don’t celebrate Labor Day on the same day as the United States. The US celebrates Labor Day on the 1st Monday of September, thus establishing a continuous three-day holiday, which is what GMA was trying to achieve. Puerto Rico and Canada also celebrate it on May 1st.

In Australia, it is called Eight-Hour Day and it marks the successful struggle for shorter daily working hours. The day of the celebration, however, varies from state to state.

In Europe, it is commemorated on May 1 and we followed the European instead of the American tradition. Sometimes, changing the date of a celebration nullifies the spirit of the occasion. This is probably why labor organizations like the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the Federation of Free Workers appealed to the President to rescind her earlier order making Labor Day a movable holiday.

Even the Church has found it expedient to move the dates of some of their traditional feasts. The Epiphany was since time immemorial commemorated on Jan. 6, the vigil of the Epiphany of Jan. 5. Now it has been moved to the first Sunday of January when it does not coincide with the New Year. So it is commemorated anytime from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8. During the Spanish times, Christmas gifts were given and exchanged not on Christmas Day that marked the Nativity of Christ, but during the Epiphany since that was the day when the Three Wise Men — later they became Kings — presented their gifts to the Child Jesus. So the twelve days after Christmas no longer apply.

The most important things about holidays is how the historical occasion is celebrated and no matter how we look at it, changing the day dilutes the spirit of the occasion. The emphasis of all holidays should be when it happened and how it happened. If the event can be re-enacted, so much the better. We used to commemorate our Independence Day on July 4th because that is when Americans finally recognized our freedom. Because it coincides with American Independence Day, the holiday became just a sidelight of American Independence Day. President Diosdado Macapagal moved the date of our Independence Day to June 12 for that was the day when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed our independence. The celebration became a great national event. So dates are important. The purpose of a holiday is not to have a non-working day; it is to commemorate a nation’s great event.