One of the things that the president of my country, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, will be most remembered for is her propensity for changing dates of legal holidays.

For example, we were supposed to commemorate the Philippine Independence on June 12 two months ago but instead the non-working holiday was moved to June 9 as June 12 fell in the middle of the week.

The Araw ng Kagitingan which is traditionally celebrated every April 9 was instead commemorated on April 7 for the same reason.

These changes in the dates of legal holidays are said to be good for tourism because these usually result to longer weekends. Accordingly, whatever is good for tourism is good for the economy.

I’m not sure if this move is in fact boosting the tourism industry. What I am sure of is that it’s causing a bit of confusion. Last June a colleague of mine asked, “When are we supposed to have a holiday for the June 12 Philippine Independence?” See?!

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