Pope Francis AP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is open to declaring non-working holidays next month to allow more Filipinos to witness the visit of Pope Francis from Jan. 15 to 19.
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma on Sunday said the Palace was now looking into this possibility, saying the government “wants to give the people the opportunity to witness the programs of the Holy Father even at home through mass media.”
“Because of this, [the Palace] is studying proposals to declare non-working holidays,” he said over government radio.
“Let’s just wait for the decision. What we only want is to give our people enough opportunity to witness the visit of the Pope.”
Coloma also assured the public that preparations for the Pope’s visit would not be affected by issues surrounding the leadership of the Philippine National Police.
PNP Director General Alan Purisima is serving a six-month suspension for authorizing an allegedly anomalous deal for the delivery of firearms licenses. Appointed as officer in charge was Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina.
“The PNP would not be less effective because of that issue,” Coloma said. “Let us not engage in speculation because the President’s declaration on the matter is clear.”
President Aquino earlier made it clear that Espina was now calling the shots at the PNP because of Purisima’s suspension.
“He’s [Espina] the head of the PNP at this point. He’s supposed to run [the PNP]. Somebody doesn’t follow him, that person gets removed. Whatever we put in place should not be dependent on any one person,” he told reporters in Busan, South Korea.
But with Purisima and Espina both retiring next year, the President said he was now looking for the next PNP chief based on the “track record of all the contenders.”
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