Key Takeaways
- Three Tiers of Holidays: The Philippines uses three classifications: Regular Holidays (fixed national days), Special Non-Working Days (flexible days often for cultural events), and Special Working Days (ordinary workdays for pay purposes).
- The “Double Pay” Standard: Regular Holidays carry a mandatory 200% pay rate if worked. Even if an employee does not work, they are entitled to 100% of their daily wage, provided they were present or on paid leave the day before the holiday.
- “No Work, No Pay” Default: For Special Non-Working Days, the default is no pay if the employee does not work. If they do work, they are entitled to a 30% premium (130% total daily pay).
- Movable Islamic Holidays: Dates for Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha are not fixed in the initial proclamation; they are announced later in the year based on the lunar calendar. Employers must keep a flexible budget for these “TBA” dates.
- Strategic Long Weekend Planning: 2026 features several 3-day and 4-day weekend blocks (notably April’s Holy Week and the year-end break). These are major attrition and leave windows that require advanced coverage mapping.
Philippine holidays matter because they affect work schedules, leave planning, and payroll. If you are searching “philippine holidays,” you probably want one thing first: the official 2026 calendar.
This guide gives you the official Philippine holidays for 2026, grouped by classification, along with quick definitions of Regular Holiday versus Special Non-Working Day versus Special Working Day, practical notes on long weekends, and a plain-English walkthrough of holiday pay rules that will save your payroll team a headache.
If you are already managing teams in the Philippines, bookmark this page. You’ll come back to it.
Quick Summary: Philippine Holidays 2026
The Philippines recognizes multiple types of holidays, and the pay rules change depending on the classification. Getting this wrong costs real money, so we want to save you the unnecessary expense.
Regular Holidays entitle employees to holiday pay even when they do not work. If they do work, premium pay applies.
Special Non-Working Days generally follow a “no work, no pay” principle, unless your company policy or a collective bargaining agreement says otherwise. Premium pay applies if work is performed.Â
Special Working Days are treated as ordinary working days, with their own handling rules, distinct from non-working holidays. (See the EDSA People Power anniversary entry below.)
Islamic holidays, specifically Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha, are often confirmed and proclaimed separately because their dates depend on lunar calendar observation. Plan for them, then update once the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos makes it official.
Philippine Holidays 2026: Official List
The dates below are drawn from Proclamation No. 1006, s. 2025, which declares the Regular Holidays and Special (Non-Working) Days for the year.
Regular Holidays (2026)
- January 1 (Thursday): New Year’s Day
- April 2 (Thursday): Maundy Thursday
- April 3 (Friday): Good Friday
- April 9 (Thursday): Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor)
- May 1 (Friday): Labor Day
- June 12 (Friday): Independence Day
- August 31 (Monday): National Heroes Day
- November 30 (Monday): Bonifacio Day
- December 25 (Friday): Christmas Day
- December 30 (Wednesday): Rizal Day
- Eid’l Fitr: Date to be proclaimed
- Eid’l Adha: Date to be proclaimed
For companies running offshore operations, these are the dates that carry mandatory holiday pay rules, regardless of whether your team reports to work.
Special Non-Working Days (2026)
- February 17 (Tuesday): Chinese New Year
- April 4 (Saturday): Black Saturday
- August 21 (Friday): Ninoy Aquino Day
- November 1 (Sunday): All Saints’ Day
- November 2 (Monday): All Souls’ Day
- December 8 (Tuesday): Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
- December 24 (Thursday): Christmas Eve
- December 31 (Thursday): Last Day of the Year
These dates are the ones that catch companies off guard. The “no work, no pay” default sounds simple enough, but in practice, your leave policy needs to address them clearly, or you will spend December answering questions you could have resolved in January.
Special Working Day (2026)
- February 25 (Wednesday): EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary
This is classified as a Special Working Day, which means it is treated as a regular working day for pay purposes. It is not the same as a Special Non-Working Day, and your payroll system should reflect that distinction.
Long Weekends to Watch in 2026
Long weekends are not a perk issue. They’re a coverage planning issue. When three or four consecutive days go dark, client-facing teams need a plan, not a scramble.
Here are the windows that will affect your staffing and turnaround times in 2026:
- April 2 to April 5: Holy Week period (Maundy Thursday through Black Saturday, with Easter Sunday on the 5th). This is the biggest block. Plan coverage early.
- April 9 to April 12: Day of Valor falls on a Thursday. With one leave day bridging Friday, your team gets a four-day weekend.
- May 1 to May 3: Labor Day on a Friday creates a natural three-day weekend.
- June 12 to June 14: Independence Day, also a Friday. Same pattern.
- August 29 to August 31: National Heroes Day lands on a Monday. Three days off, no bridging needed.
One note on the October 31 to November 2 window: it is commonly treated as a long weekend in practice because many Filipinos take leave around All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. But October 31 is not listed as an official nationwide holiday under the 2026 proclamation. Treat it as a leave behavior pattern, not a legal holiday, and plan accordingly.
Holiday Pay Rules in the Philippines (Plain-English Guide)
This section is a practical overview. For payroll execution on specific dates, always follow the latest DOLE advisory for the holiday in question. The rules here reflect common advisory frameworks, not a one-size-fits-all formula.
Regular Holidays: What “Regular” Means for Pay
If the employee does not work on a Regular Holiday, they generally receive holiday pay. If they do work, premium pay applies, commonly presented as 200% of the daily rate for the first eight hours. Overtime beyond eight hours attracts an additional premium stacked on that day’s rate.
This is the classification where the cost is real whether your team works or not. Factor it into your annual budget, not as an afterthought in December.
Special Non-Working Days: “No Work, No Pay,” Unless Your Policy Says Otherwise
If the employee does not work, the “no work, no pay” principle generally applies, unless your company policy or collective agreement grants pay for these days. If the employee does work, premium pay is commonly presented as 130% for the first eight hours.
The gap between “generally” and “your policy” is where most confusion lives. Spell it out. Put it in writing. Your payroll compliance process will thank you.
Special Working Day: Treat It as a Working Day, but Confirm the Rules
Special Working Days are not the same as Special Non-Working Days, and the difference is significant when you run payroll. If EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary falls in your pay period, confirm the applicable guidance for 2026 from DOLE before processing.
How to Use This Calendar for Work Planning
If you are managing schedules, timelines, or service delivery for teams based in the Philippines, here are the practical moves that prevent calendar surprises from becoming operational problems.
1. Put the holiday calendar into your operating system.
Add all Regular Holidays and Special Non-Working Days to your team calendar now, not next quarter. Flag the Eid dates as tentative and update once the NCMF announces them. If you are hiring in the Philippines for the first time, this step is even more important because you do not yet have the institutional muscle memory for these dates.
2. Decide your policy for Special Non-Working Days.
You have three common directions. Strict “no work, no pay” unless coverage is needed. Paid time off for selected cultural observances is a company policy choice. Or a floating holiday swap where the employee works the holiday and takes another day off.
This is a staffing and retention decision, not a generosity question. Be explicit so projects do not stall and payroll does not become a recurring surprise.
3. Build an escalation plan for year-end dates.
December 24 and December 31 are listed as Special Non-Working Days in 2026. Plan coverage accordingly, but do not assume “shutdown” is legally required. It is a staffing reality, not a statutory rule. Companies with well-designed onboarding and team support systems understand that proactive planning during these windows is what separates smooth operations from frantic Slack messages on December 23.
Next Step
If you are building teams in the Philippines, a clean holiday policy and a correctly configured payroll system matter as much as the calendar itself. Getting the operational details right is what separates companies that scale offshore successfully from those that spend every holiday season firefighting.
Ready to get the details right? Talk to our team about building Philippine-based teams with the structure and support to make them work.
For companies exploring salary benchmarks or considering an Employer of Record arrangement in the Philippines, those resources can help you plan the full picture beyond the holiday calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Regular Holidays generally come with holiday pay even if no work is performed. Special Non-Working Days generally follow “no work, no pay,” unless company policy or agreements say otherwise, with premium pay if the employee works. The pay computation is different for each classification, and getting the distinction between regular vs. special non-working holidays wrong is one of the most common payroll errors for companies new to operating in the Philippines.
They are included as Regular Holidays, but the specific dates depend on lunar calendar confirmation by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos. Plan for them in your annual calendar, then update the exact dates once officially declared.
It is listed as a Special Working Day (EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary) under Proclamation No. 1006, s. 2025. That means it is not a non-working holiday. It is treated as a regular working day with its own classification.
Two things. Classify the day correctly, whether Regular, Special Non-Working, or Special Working. Then follow the latest DOLE advisory formulas for that specific holiday. The classification determines the formula, and the formula determines the cost.
