The Philippines does not hold the world record, but we are right up there in contention for that honor.
Looking at the results of our regional neighbors, the Philippines comes in with a 2015 score of “19,” while our closest competitor is the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, with “15.” Thailand is close behind with “14,” as is Jakarta, Indonesia. Singapore, on the other hand, is not even in the running, with a score of only “11.”
But the high ranking of the Philippines does come with a price. It costs the Philippine economy about P8,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.
We are speaking of the 19 national holidays, when productive work is significantly curtailed.
By the end of 2015, the Philippines will have celebrated 19 “regular” and “special nonworking” holidays, ranging from the regular New Year’s Day on January 1st to the special nonworking day to commemorate the “last day of the year” on December 31st.
To be fair, one of this year’s holidays—All Saints’ Day—falls on a Sunday, so the economic impact is reduced. But that is only a twist of the calendar, because in 2016 both Monday, October 31, 2016, and Tuesday, November 1, 2106, will be nonworking days.
The total Philippine economic output for 2014 amounted to approximately P45 billion per day, based on a conservative 300-business-day year. Even if we assume that the nonworking holidays still generate even 50 percent of the normal daily economic production, we are still talking about a loss of some P400 billion of economic activity.
Of course, that money is not taken directly out of our pockets, although the government does lose a substantial amount of tax revenues from the income that is not produced. But it is an opportunity loss in the same way that we complain about the loss of productive hours sitting in traffic jams.
Holidays are important to take time to observe national historic events and to celebrate the lives of our national heroes. Religious holidays, while limited to the followers of those religions, might be important to commemorate as a part of society’s history and structure. But where exactly does December 24th, as an “additional special nonworking day,” fit into the social, historical, or religious fabric of the Philippines? That sounds more like a schoolchild complaining to stay home and watch TV, instead of going to school “just because.”
We need to rationalize this holiday schedule. Singapore has a very diverse multicultural and multireligious society, yet, it only has 11
nonworking days. Singapore limits its historical and heroes holidays to only one: its national independence day. China has many holidays (16), too, but the economy compensates by working on a traditional off-day, like Saturday or Sunday.
The Philippines will lose almost 20 percent of its productive Monday-through-Friday working days from November 30, 2015, until January 2, 2016. Does that really make economic sense?