OFFICE hours in government agencies may soon be adjusted to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays and work-from-home setups on Fridays, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday.

In a Palace press conference, Diokno bared that the Department of Energy (DOE) is planning to implement daylight saving time within its agency to save electricity and promote energy efficiency.

He said this will be part of the government’s short-term interventions to mitigate high inflation in the country.

Diokno said this proposal was presented before President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during a Cabinet meeting at Malacañan Palace earlier in the day.

“Pinakita rin namin na napaka-importante na i-address natin yung energy kasi isang complaint talaga sa Pilipinas ay napakamahal ng energy cost (We also presented to the President that it’s important to address energy because there are complaints that energy cost in the Philippines is expensive),” he said.

“Isa sa mga proposal, uumpisahan ng DOE, ay magkakaroon siya ng change ng time ng pagpasok sa opisina. Umpisahan ‘yan ng 7 [a.m.] tapos matatapos sya ng 4 [p.m.]. Ito yung daylight saving time (One of the proposals to be carried out by the DOE is to implement adjusted office hours. They will start at 7 am and end at 4 pm so this is what you call daylight saving time),” he added.

Diokno said the DOE is also eyeing to implement a four-day in-person work week while the work-from-home (WFH) scheme will be done every Friday.

Should the DOE experiment be successful, he said the daylight-saving time and the four-day in-person work-week plus one day WFH setup will be adopted in other government agencies as well.

Although the private sector will not be required to implement the same working hours, he said they might also be encouraged to do the same. Philippine News Agency

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