President Marcos open to 7 a.m.-4 p.m. government work hours

MANILA, Philippines — To ease traffic congestion in the National Capital Region, President Marcos is studying the proposal of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to adjust the working hours of national government offices to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

Speaking to reporters yesterday in Taguig at the launch of the Tesla Center in the Philippines, Marcos said commuters have to be consulted on the proposal, which could affect more than 473,000 state workers.

“We’re studying it. If it works, we will do it,” Marcos said. “It’s not enough to talk to the traffic enforcers and the administrators of traffic who made the suggestion. We also have to ask commuters whether it is practical to them.”

“So if it turns out that everyone agrees to it, then I cannot see why it will be a problem,” he added.

The proposal, which seeks to change the work schedule of national government employees in Metro Manila from the current 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., will be sent to Marcos once it is approved by the 17 Metro Manila mayors.

The work schedule recommended by the MMDA has been implemented for employees of local governments in Metro Manila since May last year.

According to the MMDA, the adjusted work schedule led to “minimal improvement in traffic flow along Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares” since most local government infrastructure are situated on city and municipal roads.

Travel time also decreased by 10.2 percent while travel speed increased by 20.7 percent on the roads near the city and municipal halls of the local governments, the agency added.