Official Holidays in the Philippines of 2013: Plan Your Holiday Vacations Early

Pinoys can start planning their 2013 vacations, as Malacanang issued Saturday the list of holidays for 2013.

Under Proclamation 459, the Philippines will only get three long weekends next year.

These include weekends preceding Feb. 25, (Monday) which has been declared a special holiday for the EDSA Revolution Anniversary, and Dec. 30 (Monday), which is a regular holiday for Rizal Day.

Holidays declared in observance of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (Mar. 28 and 29) also extend the weekend succeeding it.

In 2012, Pinoys had a total of seven long weekends.

The Chinese New Year, which was declared a holiday in 2012, was also not included in the list of holidays for next year.

But Pinoys did not get one less holiday, and may in fact plan extended Christmas trips, as the Palace has declared Dec. 24, 2013 (Tuesday) as a holiday "in order to foster closer family ties and enable our countrymen to observe Christmas more meaningfully..."

Nov. 2 (Saturday) may also be declared a special (non-working) day "without detriment to public interest," the Palace said.

This is "to give full opportunity to our people to properly observe All Saints Day with all its religious fervor which invariably requires them to travel to and from different regions in the country..." it added.

As for the observance of Islamic feasts Eid'l Fitr and Eidul Adha, the Palace said it shall issue proclamations declaring national holidays "after the approximate dates of the Islamic holidays have been determined in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations, whichever is possible or convenient."

Complete list of 2013 holidays:

A. Regular Holidays
New Year’s Day, Jan. 1 (Tuesday)
Maundy Thursday, Mar. 28
Good Friday, Mar. 29
Araw ng Kagitingan, Apr. 9 (Tuesday)
Labor Day, May 1 (Wednesday)
Independence Day, June 12 (Wednesday)
National Heroes Day, Aug. 26 (Last Monday of August)
Bonifacio Day, Nov. 30 (Saturday)
Christmas Day, Dec. 25 (Wednesday)
Rizal Day, Dec. 30 (Monday)

B. Special (Non-Working) Days
Black Saturday, Mar. 30
Ninoy Aquino Day, Aug. 21 (Wednesday)
All Saints Day, Nov. 1 (Friday)
Additional special (non-working) days
-Nov. 2 (Saturday)
-Dec. 24 (Tuesday)
Last Day of the Year, Dec. 31 (Tuesday)

C. Special Holiday (for all schools)
EDSA Revolution Anniversary, Feb. 25 (Monday)

Under the Labor department's pay rules, employees not working on regular holidays are still entitled to 100 percent of their regular daily rate,  "provided that they [they were] present, or [were] on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday."

Employee who work on a regular holiday that also fall on their rest days, meanwhile, will be entitled to 200 percent of the daily rate for the first eight hours and an additional 30 percent for additional hours.

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On special non-working days, the following shall apply:

"a. If the day is unworked, the 'no work, no pay' principle shall apply unless there is a favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on a special day even if the day is unworked.

b. If worked, the employee shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the daily rate of 100 percent on the first eight hours of work. In excess of eight hours, he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on said day.

c. If the day falls on the employee's rest day and is worked, he/she shall be paid an additional 50 percent of the daily rate of 100 percent on the first eight hours of work. In excess of eight hours, he/she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate."