The Ministry of Labor has confirmed that next Friday, 16 August, the Day of the Restoration of the Republic, will be a holiday in the Dominican Republic. According to a 2008 ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice, the celebration will not be moved to Monday. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor reported that Friday, 16 August 2013 is NOT a working day. The ministry calls upon the citizenry to celebrate the festival of the Restoration of the Republic.
Article 1 of Law 139-97 call for holidays that fall on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to be moved to the closest Monday. Likewise, the law established that 16 August would be a holiday when it fell on the start of a “constitutional period.” But the Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that 16 August that must be celebrated on that same date.
The Day of the Restoration of the Republic commemorates the departure of Spanish forces and the end to the short-lived annexation of the country to Spain. With the country bankrupt, President Santana, fearing another Haitian invasion, had asked Spain to retake control of the country that had gained its independence from Haiti in 1844. Nationalists waged a guerilla war between 1863 and 1865 that ended with the departure of the Spaniards.
http://dr1.com/travel/prepare/holidays.shtml
http://daduye.com/leyes/ley-139-97-sobre-dias-feriados.html