Controversy over movable holidays

The Church has two kinds of annual feasts–the immovable and the movable. The immovable always falls on a fixed date. Classic examples are Christmas and All Saints' Day. The immovables are commemorated on days that depend on when the Paschal full moon occurs which could be between March 21 or on any of the next 28 days. All the holy days that fall during Lent are movable feasts, including Good Friday. This means that the Nativity of our Lord is commemorated on a fixed date, but not His death and resurrection.

Now it seems that our holidays will follow suit. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has decided that all non-working holidays that fall on Tuesday or Wednesday will be celebrated on a Monday while those falling on a Thursday will be moved to Friday. The reason behind making them movable holidays is to provide families with three days weekends, which will give them the opportunity to visit their hometowns or tourist spots or just spend another extra day with their families.

And so last week, the Fall of Bataan which happened on April 9 was commemorated on April 8 and the whole purpose was not to honor our soldiers who participated in the battle, but to provide people with an extra day of rest. And this coming May 1, which is Labor Day, will be advanced to April 29. In the United States, Labor Day is always a three-day holiday. This is because it is celebrated on the first Monday of September. This is perhaps what Pres. Macapagal Arroyo should do – issue a decree or work for a law that will make Labor Day fall on the first Monday of May. We celebrate Labor Day on the first week of May because we followed the European countries who have been commemorating Labor Day on May 1 since 1903. The funny part is that Europe celebrated labor Day on May 1 because it was when American laborers in the United States first demanded for an eight-hour working day on May 1, 1886!

This coming June 12 will fall on a Wednesday. If the President follows her policy of moving the celebrations of holidays that fall on a Tuesday or Wednesday to Monday, we will be commemorating Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s declaration of independence in Kawit on June 10 instead of June 12.

Because May 1st of last year became the occasion for what is now referred to as EDSA III, many anti-administration groups are under the impression that it is the reason why President Macapagal Arroyo wants to change the date of the celebration. It is common knowledge that our armed forces, meaning both the military and the national police, will be on red alert this coming May 1. Already many labor organizations have announced that they will be holding street rallies to protest the moving of the Labor Day celebration. They claim that May 1 is not an ordinary holiday. It is a day that workers have traditionally asserted their rights, demands and grievances against the government. We hope and pray that this coming May 1 does not become a fourth EDSA demonstration.