Four-day work week

Yesterday, the city hall opened at 7:30 a.m. and closed at 6:30 p.m., longer than the usual 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. working hours. It was the first day of the implementation of the four-day work week this summer, based on a directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Although most city hall offices will now open Monday to Thursday (frontline services, such the Waste Management Division, police, etc. are exempted), each government employee will still be working 40 hours a week as mandated by law.

To the national government, the scheme means energy savings. Millions of pesos. To most government employees, it will be longer weekends this summer.

To the people, they can now transact with government offices earlier. Hopefully. That is, if government employees will really report on time. As radio commentator Orly Navarro rightly observes, even if offices open at 7:30 a.m., but its employees or department heads report at 9 a.m., the four-day work week will not mean anything.

If the national government really wants to save energy, then it has to think of measures more than just the four-day work week scheme. Although it has been relentlessly urging people to save energy in its radio and television ads, the message do not seem to sink in. Maybe, this is because the people do not see the government adopting energy-saving measures.

For instance, the use of government vehicles has not been very strict. Even on weekends, we see several red plates in malls, public markets, beaches, cockpit arenas – in places where they should not be. These vehicles consume gasoline paid for by the people’s money.

In offices, there have been lights-off and aircon-off times, but these were hardly observed. And what about the street lights and water faucets for public use? These are but small details that need the government’s attention.

In other words, if the government wants the people to save, then it should be the first one to do it for the people to see. Leadership by example.

By simply seeing to it that the lights are turned off at the proper time in government offices, leaking faucets are repaired and government vehicles are used properly, millions of pesos of energy would already be saved.

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It’s fiesta time. Any town you go this summer in Pangasinan, there’s a festive mood.

Just last week, Bayambang and Mapandan were celebrating. Bayambang had its fiesta in honor of its patron, St. Vincent Ferrer. Ten days of fun and celebration.

Mapandan had its Pandan Festival, a week long festivity. We were there last Wednesday to witness the inauguration of several buildings around the town square.

In Bayambang, when we saw Mayor Leo de Vera on the day the cycling race he sponsored was circling the third district, he was a picture of a happy man. His residence at Barangay Bical was a place everybody admired. Not so much for the imposing landscaping being completed but for its kitchen that doesn’t seem to run out of food.

Anyone who enters his compound eats. And in a day’s time, his staff may have fed thousands of people. For 10 days.

Whew!

ENDNOTES: Third district Rep. Gener Tulagan was in Mapandan with presidential son, Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, when the news about his ailing and aging mother’s death came through that Wednesday morning. He was very calm, as those who have learned about it condoled with him. Manong Gener, the strong and religious person that we know, may have long prepared for it and just left everything to God. He knows that in finally meeting her Creator, his mother is in now safe hands. Interment will be on Thursday, April 14.
QUICK QUOTE: The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand. --Robert Vallett