> I presume that the recommendation is to set the flags individually,
> even though it might cost an instruction or two, for the sake of
> being easier to read:

In the long run you'll thank yourself for using individual BSFs to
improve readability. Unless there's a desperate need to save
time I would always use

        clrf    INTCON
        bsf     INTCON,T0IE
        bsf     INTCON,GIE

rather than

      movlw   b'10100000'
        movwf   INTCON

as SFR bits have descriptive names, which is half-way to a comment

The usual exception is when setting ports, but bits are commented,
eg (lines up with fixed font)

         clrf    portd
         movlw   b'11110011'
;                  1111        thumbwheel data
;                      0       n/u
;                       0      delayed 5ms pulse out
;                        1     x10 switch
;                         1    power good
         movwf   trisd

or SFRs with several related bits, eg CCP or timer

         movlw   b'00000111'
;                  x
;                   0000      1:1 post-scale
;                       1     Timer2 on
;                        1x   1:16 pre-scale
         movwf   t2con

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