DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is open to the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to adopt a four-day workweek in the City Government amid increasing fuel prices.
"If we are allowed by the Civil Service Commission nga mag-four day work week, we can easily do that," Duterte-Carpio said in her regular interview streamed live on her official Facebook page Monday afternoon, April 4.
The mayor said the city was able to implement this scheme during the early onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city.
"Nabuhat na nato na (We were able to do that) for the past two year. We call it 'other alternative working arrangements (OAWA)'," she said.
The mayor lifted the OAWA when she signed Executive Order 11, Series of 2022, known as An Order Lifting All Covid-19 Restrictions in Davao City on March 7, 2022. This is due to the continuing downtrend of Covid-19 active cases in the city.
Neda Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua, on March 15, urged the government to impose a four-day workweek to conserve energy and alleviate the public’s costs on related expenses amid the increasing prices of fuel products.
Chua also told President Rodrigo Duterte during the Talk to the People Address that Neda supports the Department of Finance’s (DOF) recommendations to retain the excise tax on fuel products and provide instead “targeted relief” to vulnerable sectors from the higher value added tax (VAT) collections due to the higher fuel prices.
The Neda head, in his report Tuesday, said the general population should exercise conservation to help them save energy and money amid the high prices, particularly of fuel products in the country.
The city and provincial governments of Iloilo started implementing a four-day workweek on March 28.