Black Saturday Holiday: Malacañang declares April 7, 2012 special non-working day

Black Saturday holiday declared

April 7, 2012, Black Saturday, has been declared a special non-working day by the Malacañang. This is to allow Filipinos to have an uninterrupted observance of the Holy Week.

"Our people must be given the full and uninterrupted opportunity to ponder on the significance of the Holy Week and to properly observe its traditions with religious fervor, without prejudice to public interest," Proclamation No. 360, signed by President Benigno S. Aquino III, reads.

Here's the full text of Proclamation No. 360 declaring Black Saturday 2012 as a holiday:

PROCLAMATION NO. 360: DECLARING SATURDAY, 7 APRIL 2012, AS A SPECIAL (NON-WORKING) DAY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY

WHEREAS, Saturday, 7 April 2012 falls between Good Friday and Easter Sunday;

WHEREAS, Black Saturday, falling between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, has been traditionally declared a special (non-working) day throughout the country;

WHEREAS, the observance of Holy Week is one of our people’s most cherished traditions;

WHEREAS, our people must be given the full and uninterrupted opportunity to ponder on the significance of the Holy Week and to properly observe its traditions with religious fervor, without prejudice to public interest.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare Saturday, 7 April 2012 as a special (non-working) day throughout the country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.

Done in the City of Manila, this 29^th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twelve.