The 451st founding anniversary of Cebu province will be commemorated in simple rites on Thursday due to the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a statement on Wednesday, said a flag-raising ceremony and Holy Mass will be held at the Provincial Capitol.
The province celebrated its founding anniversaries in the past years with month-long programs, grandiose festivals, and other activities such as agro-tourism fairs.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Visayas said workers in Cebu province as well as in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu can expect a higher pay on Thursday, which was declared as special non-working holiday for the founding anniversary celebration.
Workers are mandated to be paid with an additional 30 percent of their basic wage for the first eight hours of work should they report to duty on that day.
DOLE-7 Regional Director Salome Siaton said if the workers will not work on that day, then the “no work, no pay” principle will apply unless there is favorable company policy, practice or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on that day.
For overtime work, employees must be paid an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate on that day and for work done on said day, which is also the rest day of workers, an additional 50 percent of the workers’ basic wage for the first eight hours of work must be given by employers.
Siaton, however, reminded workers that just like with the other holidays, employers are given consideration and are allowed to pay the workers with the holiday pay at a later time when the present emergency situation has been abated and the normal operations of establishments have been put in place.
“Cebu City has just been placed under GCQ (general community quarantine). So, we are also not expecting the establishments to be in full operations right away given the fact that regardless of the kind of community quarantine we are being subjected to, the virus is still here. The existence of the national emergency brought about by the menacing effects of covid-19 is still very much felt by all of us,” the labor official said in a statement.
August 6 of every year is a special non-working public holiday throughout Cebu as stipulated by Republic Act 8952. The law was enacted in 2000 during the administration of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. (PNA)