CEBU CITY, Philippines—April 21, 2023, Friday, remains a regular holiday in the country, in observance of Eid’l Fitr or the Feast of Ramadan.
Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7) information officer Luchel Taniza told CDN Digital in a phone interview on Friday morning, April 21, that they will follow Presidential Proclamation No. 201, which declared April 21 as a regular holiday throughout the country.
DOLE also released a labor advisory on the computation of wages for work done on Friday as a regular holiday.
On Thursday night, April 20, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) declared that the observance of the Eid’l Fitr would be on Saturday, April 22.
READ: Eid’l Fitr will be celebrated on April 22 — Office of Muslim Affairs of Cebu City
This was after the result of their moon sighting activities on Thursday reported no sighting of the New Moon (Hilal), completing the lunar month of Ramadhan into 30 days.
Proclamation No. 201, however, was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on April 14, with the recommendation of the NCMF to declare April 21 as a national holiday for the Feast of Ramadan.
The Cebu City- Office of the Muslim Affairs and Indigenous Cultural Communities (OMAICC), for its part, also reiterated that Friday is still a holiday despite the changes in the date for the celebration of Eid’l Fitr this year.
“Inshaallah. We will stick and keep our decision last night that our Eid’l Fitr here in Cebu is Saturday at Plaza Independencia. But, there is nothing wrong if you decide to break your fast today and there are masjids here in Cebu that will have Eid’l Fitr today, Friday,” OMAICC told the Muslim community in Cebu in a social media post on Friday morning.
Payment of wages for Regular Holiday
Meanwhile, under Labor Advisory No. 10, series of 2023, employees who did not work on Friday are entitled to 100 percent of their basic wage, provided that they reported to work or is on leave of absence with pay on the day immediately preceding the regular holiday.
For work done during the regular holiday, the employer shall pay a total of 200 percent of the employee’s wage for that day for the first eight hours.
For work done in excess of eight hours, the employer shall pay the employee an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on the said day.
Meanwhile, for work done during a regular holiday that also falls on the employee’s rest day, the employer shall pay the employee an additional 30 percent of the basic wage of 200 percent.
Moreover, for work done in excess of eight hours during a regular holiday that also falls on the employee’s rest day, the employer shall pay the employee an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on said day.
/bmjo