Palace reminds agencies to keep Christmas parties simple

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Malacañang on Friday reminded government agencies to keep their Christmas celebrations simple this year, although no order was needed to implement this.

In 2025, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. formally ordered, in a memorandum circular, all national government agencies and local governments to keep their Christmas parties simple in light of the string of natural calamities that struck the country that year.

“Hanggang ngayon po nandoon pa rin ang austerity measures na dapat ipinatutupad. Kaya ang dapat na mga Christmas parties ay hindi man natin ipag-utos, pero ang reminder is dapat na maging simple dahil mas marami pa tayong kakaharapin na mga issues na dapat na matugunan,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing.

(Until now, the austerity measures are still being implemented. So all Christmas parties, this does not need to be ordered, but the reminder is that things should be simple because we are facing a lot of issues that should be tended to.)

While Castro did not elaborate on what these issues are, the country has grappled with record-breaking oil prices this year due to the Middle East conflict.

After experiencing week-long heavy rains due to the Southwest Monsoon, the Philippines is now being affected by the El Niño phenomenon, which is expected to cause massive dry spells until the first half of 2027. —LDF, GMA News