Comelec to adopt four-day workweek starting November

The Commission on Elections will implement a four-day workweek beginning in November as part of its energy-saving measures, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Monday.

Garcia announced the schedule during the poll body’s flag-raising ceremony at its main office in Manila on 5 October.

“Ngayong darating na linggo ng Nobyembre ay muli nating ipapatupad ang four-day work week dito sa komisyon,” Garcia said.

He said the arrangement will begin after 2 November and continue until March 2027.

The Comelec had earlier declined to adopt a four-day workweek in March because of preparations for several electoral exercises, while implementing other energy-conservation measures instead.

Garcia said the commission now has a lighter workload following the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to 2028.

“Naisip natin bilang tugon at bilang pakikisapi natin sa ating bayan para lamang magkaroon ng pagtitipid kahit paano sa enerhiya dito rin sa komisyon,” he said.

Garcia said Comelec will reassess the arrangement as preparations intensify for the 2028 national and local elections.

The poll body is also set to resume voter registration in November.

Aside from voter registration, Comelec is preparing for the special congressional election in Batanes on 28 November and the Naga City plebiscite on 21 November.

The Batanes special election will fill the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Ciriaco Gato Jr. on 21 September.

Naga voters, meanwhile, will decide whether to ratify the city’s conversion into a highly urbanized city.