Palace: March 8, Women's Day, not a special non-working holiday

While the Philippines joins the world in marking International Women's Day on Thursday, it still does not consider the day a non-working holiday.   Malacañang made this clear Wednesday as it stressed on the Official Gazette's Twitter account that Thursday is not a special non-working holiday.   "March 8 (Women's Day) is not a special non-working holiday," it said.   It pointed out Women's Day is not included in the list of holidays for 2012 as decreed by President Benigno Aquino III in Proclamation 295.   On Thursday, the Philippines joins the world in marking International Women's Day, an occasion observed since the early 1900s, according to InternationalWomensDay.com.   "Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike," it said.   It said the new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation.   However, it lamented women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. - KBK, GMA News