MANDAUE City is set to implement a four-day work week for its government offices following the signing of an executive order by Mayor Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano, a move aimed at maintaining essential services while easing work arrangements for employees.
Lawyer Riczen Gingoyon, the mayor’s executive secretary, confirmed that the executive order was signed on April 10, 2026, with implementation scheduled to begin on April 16.
“Mayor Thadeo Jovito ‘Jonkie’ Ouano has already signed the executive order for the four-day work week last week, April 10,” Gingoyon said.
He added that department heads and supervisors were required to submit their respective action plans and implementation strategies by April 13 to guide the rollout of the new work scheme.
Under the order, government offices will not completely shut down on Fridays.
Instead, a skeletal workforce will remain in place to ensure the continuity of public services, particularly in critical and revenue-generating offices.
“The mayor’s direction is not a total closure. Our vital offices will still be there, and if there are processes to be handled, someone will remain to attend to them,” Gingoyon explained.
Essential services such as police, fire protection, disaster response, hospitals, health centers, and social welfare offices will continue full operations, especially during emergencies.
Meanwhile, revenue-generating units, including market and slaughterhouse collection services, will also maintain personnel on duty.
Gingoyon emphasized that work arrangements will vary per office and even per division, depending on the nature of their functions.
Some administrative units may be allowed to work from home, while others, such as traffic enforcement personnel, are required to be physically present.
“There are offices that are purely administrative and can opt for work-from-home arrangements. However, there are divisions like the Traffic Enforcement Agency where work-from-home is not possible because they need to manage traffic on-site,” she said.
The City Government is also taking steps to ensure that Job Order (JO) employees will not suffer a reduction in income despite the new schedule.
According to Gingoyon, they will still be compensated for five days of work, with assigned tasks to be completed from home on Fridays.
“The mayor is concerned about our Job Order workers. He wants to ensure their monthly income will not decrease. It will still be considered five days of work, and on Fridays they will be paid while working from home with assigned tasks such as budgeting, research, or encoding,” he said.
City officials acknowledged that adjustments may be necessary as this is the first time the policy is being implemented in Mandaue City.
“There will be some adjustments since this is our first time implementing this. We are open to refining the system once we see how it works,” Gingoyon added.
Final approval of which offices will fully adopt the four-day work week remains subject to evaluation by the Administration Office and the mayor. (ABC)