by magnolia_eic | Nov 12, 2010 | Headlines, National News
In celebration of the Eid’l Adha, or the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice, Malacañang just declared Tuesday November 16, 2010 a National non-working holiday.
President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III declared the holiday through Proclamation No. 60.
The proclamation, signed November 9, was based on Republic Act 9849, which provides that Eid’l Adha shall be celebrated as a national holiday.
Eid al-Adha, also known as “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid” is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma’il) as an act of obedience to God, but instead was able to sacrifice a ram (by God’s command).
Eid al-Adha is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 12th and the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah of the lunar Islamic calendar. Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. The date is approximately 70 days (2 Months and 10 days) after the end of the month of Ramadan, i.e. Eid-ul-Fitr. Ritual observance of the holiday lasts until sunset of the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah. (PIA)
by magnolia_eic | Oct 8, 2010 | Headlines, National News
MALACANANG has declared October 25- Monday as a special non-working holiday to give time for
Filipinos to go out and vote for the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
In Proclamation 48 issued October 6, 2010, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said it is imperative
that the people be given the fullest opportunity to participate in the said elections and exercise their
right to vote.
With the proclamation too, Filipino voters registered in the country’s 42,000 barangays can also find
the necessary travel time to go back to their precincts with the long weekend, which allows them
ample time.
The next Monday also, November 1, is another holiday, bringing in two holidays in the immediate
weeks.
By tradition, November 1 is observed as the All Saints’ Day.
This day, thousands of Filipinos visit cemeteries to honor their dead relatives.
In 2007, former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law the bill on holiday economics,
which aimed to give the public more long weekends to enjoy.
Republic Act 9492 amends a provision in the National Administrative Code of 1987, to allow the
government to move holidays – except those with religious significance – to the nearest Monday.
The law also pegs four holidays on a fixed date: Jan. 1 or New Year’s Day; Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day;
Dec. 25, Christmas Day; and the last day of the year, Dec. 31.
Other holidays especially those religious in nature as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Eid’l Fitr
have always been set on movable dates so they are unchanged under the law.
For these kind of holidays, the
President, by law shall issue a proclamation,
at least six months prior to the holiday concerned, according to reports. (PIABOHOL)
by anyajulia | Dec 27, 2008 | Headlines, National News
AT P280 against P600 per kilo, it is quite logical that people convert to R12, but with a devastating effect it gives to earth’s ozone layer, it is also understandable why the government is off to a phase-out of the cheaper refrigerant.
Come 2010, all those cars, refrigerators and air-conditioning units using the dreaded chlorofluorocarbons (R12 Freon) may be wasted, unless they are retrofitted with the environment friendly hydrofluorocarbons (HFC 134a).
CFC-12 or Freon, an ozone depleting substance, is widely used as cooling agent especially in car air-conditioning systems. However, a freon total phase-out following zero importation by year 2010 would force the refrigerant to be irrelevant in the Philippines, being among the signatories to the Montreal Protocol on the Protection on the Ozone Layer, sources said.
In short, what becomes vogue in 2010 are those that use non-CFC, because freon is the earth’s biggest ozone depleting substance.
How does a retrofit cost? Well, according to air-conditioning technicians, not much, except that units need to be using different capilla oil, one that has Society of Automotive Engineers 20 viscousity.
The Department of Transportation and Communication – Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is implementing a regulation under the DOTC-DENR Joint Administrative Order No. 3 series of 2006.
This would also impose upon car-owners the mandatory inspection of their car aircon systems as a prerequisite for renewal and registration.
This means all model 1999 vehicles to present should only have R-134a or non-CFC air-conditioning system to be registered.
It also means HFC-134a air-con system vehicles are banned from converting to freon as commo practice to skip the expensive hydrofluorocarbons and other blends.
Older models with Freon-using airconditioning system may be allowed to register until 2012, but they have to retrofit.
Notwithstanding its commercial and industrial value, CFCs pose serious environmental threats.
Studies undertaken by various scientists revealed that CFCs released into the atmosphere accumulate in the stratosphere, where they had deleterious effect on the ozone layer.
Stratospheric ozone shields the earth’s living organisms from harmful ultraviolet rays.
For the concern over ozone depletion, the ban against CFCs in aerosol-spray dispensers have now graduated into total ban for CFC. (rachiu/PIA)
