Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, has returned to a compressed four-day workweek for municipal government offices and personnel starting this week, Mayor Jose Maria Alonso said Monday, August 3.
Alonso on July 29 issued Executive Order No. 2026-33 ordering the return to the four-day work week.
It supersedes Executive Order No. 22, Series of 2026, which had previously reverted municipal offices to a standard five-day schedule on June 1.
Under the new order, municipal government employees will work from 7:30 a.m. . to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with a one-hour lunch break, maintaining the required standard total of 40 work hours per week.
Fridays will serve as the non-working day for most regular municipal operations.
To ensure that frontline and emergency operations remain unaffected, Alonso said that essential public services will maintain uninterrupted operation.
Departments providing continuous services—including disaster response, public safety, health, sanitation, security, market, and terminal operations—will observe modified staffing schedules or maintain a skeleton workforce on Fridays as determined by department heads.
The return to the four-day arrangement is aimed at promoting efficient government operations, optimizing the use of public resources, and reducing unnecessary energy consumption and transportation-related costs, the mayor said, citing the high fuel prices.
Additionally, the executive order highlights the need to improve employee welfare and support work-life balance without compromising the delivery of essential public services to residents.
The move aligns with Civil Service Commission regulations and Memorandum Circular No. 114 from the Office of the President regarding flexible work arrangements in government, the mayor said.*
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