President Duterte Declares May 9 A Special Non-Working Holiday

To exercise the right to vote, President Duterte declares May 9 as a special non-working holiday, the election day.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE – President Rodrigo Duterte releases a proclamation declaring May 9 as a special non-working holiday.

In Proclamation No. 1357 signed by Duterte and released by Malacanang on Thursday, May 5, the president himself declared that May 9, election day, will be a special non-working holiday to “enable people to properly exercise their right to vote”.

There are some 67.5 million Filipinos who are expected to cast their votes and this is the first time for the country to hold an election amid the pandemic. In the order, it has been stated that the election will be conducted based on the public health measures of the national government. Of the 67.5 million number, 65.7 million of which are domestic voters and 1.8 million are overseas voters.

“Now, therefore, I, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare Monday, 09 May 2022, a special (non-working) holiday throughout the country for the National and Local Elections,” the order reads

Last week, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) asked Duterte to declare the election day a special non-working holiday.