ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is observing a four-day workweek for its non-uniformed personnel as part of the government’s push to adopt alternative work arrangements aimed at reducing energy consumption and operational costs, while ensuring that police operations across Western Visayas remain uninterrupted.
PRO-6 regional director Police Brigadier General Josefino Ligan clarified that the compressed work schedule applies only to civilian employees assigned to administrative and support functions within the regional police headquarters.
He stressed that uniformed personnel and operational units will continue with their regular duty schedules to guarantee continuous police presence and public safety services in the region.
“Malinaw doon sa memorandum ng ating Presidente na ang frontliner services, agencies delivering frontline services, are not included — especially ang mga security forces natin,” Ligan said during a press conference.
Because of this, police officers and other operational units — particularly those assigned to patrol duties, law enforcement operations, and emergency response—are not covered by the alternative work arrangement.
The four-day workweek instead applies to non-uniformed personnel (NUP), who are still required to complete the mandated 40-hour workweek for government employees.
“On the part of non-uniformed personnel, just to comply with the 40-hour workweek, i-comply natin ang four-day workweek na ‘yan, but we are extending the eight-hour duty,” Ligan explained.
Under the setup, civilian staff report earlier and extend their daily working hours to complete the required number of work hours within four days instead of the usual five-day schedule.
“Instead of going to the office at 8 a.m., earlier sila papasok. Instead of leaving at 5 p.m., magiging 6 p.m. para ma-comply pa rin natin ang 40 hours sa loob ng isang linggo na pagtratrabaho ng ating government employees,” he said.
The arrangement follows the directive of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allowing certain government offices to adopt flexible work schedules as part of broader efforts to address current national concerns related to energy consumption and operational expenses.
Ligan assured the public that the implementation of the compressed workweek is not affecting police visibility, law enforcement operations, or the delivery of essential services by the Philippine National Police in Western Visayas./PN
