CEBU — The Cebu Provincial Government will restore its compressed four-day, 40-hour workweek beginning Monday, Sept. 28, as the provincial government renews efforts to reduce energy consumption.
Governor Pamela Baricuatro issued a memorandum on Sept. 23 directing covered provincial government offices and employees to return to the four-day arrangement under Executive Order 16, Series of 2026.
Under the schedule, employees in covered offices will work from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday. This allows employees to complete the required 40 hours within four working days.
The arrangement will not apply uniformly across all provincial offices. The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Provincial Health Office, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, and Cebu Normal School of Business and Technology will maintain their usual schedules because of the nature of their services.
The offices of the Provincial Governor, General Services and Provincial Treasurer are also encouraged to assign personnel who can maintain regular Monday-to-Friday office hours to ensure that necessary transactions and services remain available.
The four-day schedule reverses an earlier decision to temporarily restore the regular five-day workweek. The province had suspended the compressed arrangement under Executive Order 27, issued April 30, following national government directives connected to energy conservation amid the Middle East conflict.
The latest move brings the province back to the energy-saving arrangement previously introduced under EO 16. The policy is intended to reduce electricity and fuel consumption while maintaining the required number of working hours.
Cebu is not the only local government unit to have used a compressed workweek as part of energy-saving measures. Earlier in 2026, several local governments in the province adopted similar schedules, with frontline and emergency services generally maintaining regular operations.
For residents transacting with the Capitol, the change means many provincial offices will no longer operate under the standard five-day schedule. Essential offices and designated personnel will continue providing services according to their respective arrangements.
The new four-day workweek will remain in effect until further notice, making the coming weeks a test of whether the province can reduce operational energy use while maintaining access to government services.
The bigger issue now is how the compressed schedule will affect daily government transactions—and whether Cebu’s renewed energy-saving measures will remain in place as conditions surrounding fuel and energy costs continue to evolve.
