The Senate is not planning to reduce the number of holidays in the country but considering limiting the approval of additional ones, Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito clarified on Monday.

According to Ejercito, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s earlier statement, which was heavily criticized by the public, particularly the labor sector, was “misunderstood.”

“Recently, the Senate President expressed concerns about the seemingly high number of holidays in our country… In fact, it seems that our Senate President was misunderstood. He didn’t really want to reduce the holidays but just to rationalize them,” he said.

“We are not reducing them; we are just trying to rationalize. Perhaps the discussion has become a bit heated,” he added.

Ejercito made this clarification during the joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Local Government with the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, which he presided over.

Ejercito led the hearing, which focused on proposed measures to declare special non-working holidays in various provinces around the country.

Last week, Escudero stated that members of the Senate had agreed to limit the approval of bills on local holidays to make the country “more competitive.”

He noted that with the high number of non-working holidays — totaling nearly a month — the Philippines might face challenges in maintaining its competitiveness.