MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the President has released the official list of regular and special holidays for 2020.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday (November 15), Proclamation No. 845 declares the regular holidays and special (non-working) days for the year 2020 that will be observed nationwide, as follows:

Regular Holidays

• New Year’s Day – January 1, Wednesday
• Araw ng Kagitingan – April 9, Thursday
• Maundy Thursday – April 9
• Good Friday – April 10
• Labor Day – May 1, Friday
• Independence Day – June 12, Friday
• National Heroes Day – August 31, Monday
• Bonifacio Day – November 30, Monday
• Christmas Day – December 25, Friday
• Rizal Day – December 30, Wednesday

Special Non-Working Holidays

• Chinese New Year – January 25, Saturday
• EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary – February 25, Tuesday
• Black Saturday – April 11, Saturday
• Ninoy Aquino Day – August 21, Friday
• All Saints’ Day – November 1, Sunday
• Feast of the Immaculate Conception – December 8, Tuesday
• Last Day of the Year – December 31, Thursday

Additional Special Non-Working Days

• November 2, Monday
• December 24, Thursday

The proclamation further reads that separate proclamations declaring national holidays for the observance of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha will be issued in accordance with the Islamic calendar or the lunar calendar, whichever is possible or convenient.

It adds that “the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos shall inform the Office of the President the actual dates on which these holidays shall respectively fall.” /mbmf

A woman prays for her son, a passenger on the KM Sinar Bangun ferry which sank yesterday in Lake Toba, in Simalungun, North Sumatra, Indonesia June 19, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Irsan Mulyadi/ via REUTERS

Indonesian authorities had rescued 18 people by Tuesday (June 19) morning following the sinking of a ferry which had at least 80 passengers on board in Lake Toba, a popular tourist destination in North Sumatra.

One passenger who was on the ferry which was hit by the weather was confirmed dead. Two other ferries and a wooden boat were involved in the rescue effort.

Ferry accidents are common in Indonesia, a vast archipelago, especially during the Islamic holiday of Eid when millions of people make the annual journey by land, sea, and air to their hometowns after the holy fasting month of Ramadan. A longboat carrying around 43 people sank off Makassar on Sulawesi island last week, killing 13, and a speedboat carrying 30 passengers sank off South Sumatra, killing at least two.

Lake Toba, a popular tourist destination, fills the caldera of a giant dormant volcano and is one of the deepest lakes in the world.—Reuters

Quebec’s ban on face coverings for people giving or receiving provincial government services has received a mixed response.

Quebec’s Bill 62 states that the law defends modern secular traditions while its detractors say it encourages discrimination against Muslim women in the mainly French-speaking Canadian province.

The law, which was passed last week, has sparked a debate on how the new ruling would be implemented across the province.

While the law does not specify which face coverings are prohibited, the debate has largely focused on the niqab worn by some Muslim women, which covers everything but the eyes.

People affected by the law would include public-sector employees such as teachers, police officers, hospital and daycare workers.

“Throughout the whole bus ride, I have to uncover my face? What crime did I commit that I have my fundamental rights violated,” said Afifa Suleman, a resident who wears niqab.

The law allows for exemptions under certain circumstances, although it did not provide details. Regulations setting out how the new law will be enforced are yet to come.

“Even if you believe that the niqab is oppressive in some way. If that really is a problem cutting them out of public transit and access education and medical care is simply not the solution,” said Sarah Brand, a Bill 62 protester.

“It’s important to send a strong message that diversity. We can have a great principle, but we don’t want to perceive as we are stigmatizing anybody,” said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

Like France, which passed a ban on veils, crosses and other religious symbols in schools in 2004. Quebec has struggled to reconcile its secular identity with a growing Muslim population, many of them North African emigrants. — Reuters