By HENRY EMPEÑO | March 10, 2026

IBA, Zambales — Zambales province has implemented a four-day workweek program following the release by Malacañang on Friday of Memorandum Circular 114 enjoining energy conservation measures among national and local government units in face of rising global oil prices due to the ongoing Middle East crisis.

Through Executive Order No. 1, series of 2026, Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. directed the implementation of energy conservation measures and adoption of flexible work arrangements to reduce electricity and fuel consumption and promote efficient use of resources.

The order signed on Monday, March 9, covers all local government units and instrumentalities within the province.

Under EO 1, Ebdane set a four-day workweek from Monday to Thursday, with daily working hours from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Fridays, meanwhile, will be work-from-home days to allow personnel to perform tasks remotely while maintaining productivity and operational continuity, the governor said.

Ebdane, however, directed the Provincial Engineering Office and the four hospital units in the province to maintain regular office work Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., to provide essential on-site services.

He also ordered the provincial government’s Accounting, Treasury, General Services, and Disaster Management offices to maintain a skeleton workforce, with a duty officer on Fridays, to continue operations.

Aside from the flexible workweek schedule, Ebdane’s EO 1 directed government units to adopt virtual meetings as the default mode for conferences, consultations, and coordination whenever feasible.

EO 1 also limited official travels, out-of-town trainings and seminars to only those absolutely necessary, and enforced trip consolidation and optimized routes for government vehicles to reduce fuel consumption.

Ebdane said he expects all municipal government units to follow suit and implement their own energy conservation programs.

In the capital town of Iba, Mayor Irenea Maniquiz-Binan issued EO 33, which adjusted the daily work schedule for local government employees to 10 hours, or from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, with Friday designated non-working day.

Frontline service offices, however, will remain operating Monday to Friday and implement a rotation schedule with skeleton force to keep essential services unimpeded, Binan said.

A 10-hours workday is also implemented in Masinloc town under Mayor Hazel Lim’s EO No. 12, which similarly extend work hours from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. without noon break.

Lim also said that offices and units providing essential, emergency, and 24/7 service shall not close on Fridays and weekends and maintain full operations with skeleton workforce through work shift distribution. The four-day workweek schedule is expected to reduce the LGU’s weekly fuel and electricity consumption by about 15 percent to 20 percent, Lim added. ▲