In the Philippines, they have 3 different types of holidays:
– Regular holidays – this is what you think of when you hear the word holiday. Independence Day, Christmas, New Years day.
– Special holidays – these are lesser holidays where parents usually work but sometimes kids have days off school. Think Valentines day or St Patricks day.
– Special non-working holidays – to be honest…I’m not exactly sure what these are, and these days are becoming less and less.
There will be two regular holidays this April in the Philippines.
The first is the Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan) on April 9, 2025. The following week is Holy Week, during which Maundy Thursday (April 17, 2025) is a special holiday, and Good Friday (April 18, 2025) is a regular holiday.
Holy Week in the Philippines is steeped in tradition, and most of the country observes the different Catholic rituals that lead up to Easter.
By Armanbarbuco – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28747788
The school summer holidays in the Philippines are also expected to start during Holy Week.
So, if your OFS has kids, with Holy Week and the summer break, you might see a decline in productivity or increased requests for days off.
You can stay on top of Philippine holidays by subscribing to our Google calendar.
If you’re new to this newsletter and want to learn more about Philippine holidays and paid time off, we’ve created a detailed guide at Onlinejobs.ph/holidays.
To hire your first OFS (or even a VA): OnlineJobs.ph
John