Cagayan de Oro adopts 4-day workweek schedule

CAGAYAN DE ORO – Following other local government units in Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy has ordered the implementation of a four-day compressed workweek for all City Hall employees and offices to help conserve energy amid rising fuel prices.

Jade Adecer, the city information officer, said Uy directed the implementation of the still unsigned executive order starting Monday.

“Starting today, City Hall employees will leave their offices at 7 p.m. Additional two hours have been added to their regular work days from Monday to Thursday,” Adecer said.

READ: Four-day workweek imposed in Nueva Vizcaya

Under the arrangement, Adecer said city government offices would operate for two more hours for each of the four working days each week as part of the local government’s efforts to reduce electricity consumption and operational costs.

He said there would be no work on Fridays, in line with Memorandum Circular No. 114 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as tensions in the Middle East continued to affect global fuel prices.

Adecer said exempted from the order were the City Hospital, the Road and Traffic Administration, the City Health Office and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, which provided essential emergency services to the public.

The memorandum also instructed department heads at City Hall to limit electricity consumption and adopt other energy-saving measures in their respective offices.

Adecer said Mayor Rolando Uy had also been encouraging local traders to adopt the compressed workweek arrangement in their shops and establishments.

Local business leaders, however, expressed caution about implementing the four-day workweek program, saying it could do more harm than good to the local economy.

George Goking, former city councilor and president of the Xavier University Alumni Association, said he could not see how the compressed four-day workweek would result in savings for the city government.

“Extending the work hours of City Hall employees means additional costs for them because they would have to buy dinner instead of eating at home,” Goking said.

Ralph Paguio, senior vice president of Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company and business sector representative to the Regional Development Council Region 10, said their firm, being an essential power utility, was exempt from the program.

Paguio said many local traders may also hesitate to participate in the four-day workweek program being implemented by the city government.

“Business establishments are already bracing for increases in commodity prices and would rather recover these costs through increased sales than absorb the additional expenses,” Paguio said.

Starting this week, the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato have implemented a four-day work week and work-from-home set-up to save on energy. INQ