Foreign and local business groups yesterday rebuffed proposals for a four­day work week to help ease the anticipated gridlock due to the construction of major road projects in Metro Manila this year.

In a chance interview yesterday, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (Am­ Cham) Senior Adviser John D. Forbes said: "In business, what we're always looking at is the competition. You're competing with everyone, with other countries, so [if] other countries have five days work, we have four — that's essentially not a good idea."

"[It is] likely to make the country less competitive," Mr. Forbes added in a text message to Business World yesterday.

Traffic jams are expected in the National Capital Region (NCR) after construction began on Monday for the Skyway Stage 3 project to connect the South Luzon Expressway in Makati City to the North Luzon Expressway in Quezon City, and for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway Phase 2 to the Entertainment City in Paranaque.

Last week, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis N. Tolentino had proposed that schools in the capital region adopt a four­day work week to reduce traffic.

This soon prompted Quezon City (second district) Rep. Winston "Winnie" L. Castelo to again push for House Bill (HB) 1278, the proposed Act Mandating Four­Day Work Week in Public and Private Sectors, which he had filed last July 9.

However, in separate text messages to BusinessWorld yesterday, representatives of business groups in the country countered the proposal.

Henry J. Schumacher, executive vice­president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), said: "Business, trade, manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, contact centers, etc. work five­six­seven days a week. A four­day work week equals economic sabotage."

Peter Wallace, chairman of the Wallace Business Forum, said the suggestion "is a bandage solution to the real problem."

"It's an imaginative solution. The trouble is, it makes us uncompetitive with other countries as productivity likely falls. Maybe some businesses could hold different hours to ease peak hour traffic," he said.

For his part, Peter Angelo V. Perfecto, executive director of the Makati Business Club (MBC) said: "A four­day work week proposal must be based on a comprehensive study especially on its impact to productivity. We do know that productivity has been suffering due to the traffic woes in Metro Manila.

Is there a long-term plan and roadmap to address this? Shouldn't Congress focus on this instead?" Mr. Perfecto added: "Legislation is not necessary to address this traffic problem. Instead, strict implementation of traffic rules can go a long way in helping ease the congestion. We should leave work schedule adjustments and other contingency measures to the discretion of companies. Many are already working on their plans to mitigate impact on their operations and their people."

HB 1278 would require a four­day work week, from Monday to Thursday, with 10 working hours daily.

In filing the bill, Mr. Castelo had said the switch from an eight­hour, Monday­Friday work week (8/5) to a ten­hour, Monday­Thursday work week (10/4) "could produce tremendous savings for workers and employers alike."

"Overall, the proposed 10/4 work week could mean weekly savings amounting to at least P20 billion for the over 20 million private sector workers and 1.5 million state employees," Mr. Castelo said in the explanatory note of the bill.

He added that employers' savings on maintenance and operational expenditures would be enormous.

"Costs otherwise spent on electric bills, water bills, gasoline, telecommunications Services on Friday could be rechanneled for other productive purposes."

House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr., in a chance interview yesterday, told reporters that the House of Representatives will study all recourses to address the congestion problems before considering the four­day work week proposal.

"As a temporary device at this period of great traffic difficulty... if there is really great traffic difficulty, then let's see. After all, we could always drive through side roads; not everyone [should] pass through EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Ave.)," Mr. Belmonte said.

"Let's see. The people might be able to accommodate this; if turns out that they cannot, then we have to try to explore a four­day work week," he said.

For its part, Malacanang on Tuesday said that the proposal is only a suggestion.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. told a press briefing yesterday: "It was simply offered as options and suggestion and was not intended to be presented as imperatives, precisely because there is a need for all the affected stakeholders to vet the idea, to review the possible ramifications and consequences.

Source: Business World, 19 February 2014