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Philippine Standard Time

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Philippine Time)

Philippine Standard Time
Time zone
The Clock tower of Manila City Hall is the icon for synchronizing the time in the whole Philippine archipelago, before an atomic clock was introduced in the country in 2012. The purposes of these Philippine "towering timepieces" are to tell the time and to serve as landmarks.
UTC offset
PHTUTC+08:00
Current time
23:55, 1 October 2026 PHT [refresh]
Observance of DST
DST is not observed in this time zone.

Philippine Standard Time (PST[1][2] or PhST;[3][4] Filipino: Pamantayang Oras ng Pilipinas), also known as Philippine Time (PHT),[citation needed] is the official name for the time zone used in the Philippines. The country only uses a single time zone, at an offset of UTC+08:00, but used daylight saving time for brief periods from November 1, 1936 until July 28, 1990.

Geographic details

[edit]
Countries that use UTC+08:00 are in yellow.

Geographically, the Philippines lies within 114°17′/116°53′ and 126°37′ east of the Prime Meridian,[5] and is therefore fully located within the UTC+08:00 time zone. Philippine Standard Time is maintained by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The Philippines shares the same time zone with China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Western Australia, Brunei, Irkutsk (Russia), Central Indonesia, and most of Mongolia.

History

[edit]
Erroneous International Date Line from the 1888 Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, running between the Spanish Philippine Islands and British Hong Kong. The Philippine Islands along with the rest of New Spain are shown on the eastern side of the IDL. They had moved west of the line in 1845. Bonin Islands and Fiji are also shown east of the line. They were actually west of the line.

Precolonial era

[edit]

Before the arrival of clocks in the 16th century, early Filipinos kept track of time using environmental cues, the positions of the sun, and the stars. Portions of the day and night were given highly descriptive names. For example, dawn was called bukang-liwayway, midday was katanghalian, dusk was takipsilim, and midnight was hatinggabi. Each region effectively followed its own local solar mean time.[6]

Age of Exploration

[edit]

When Ferdinand Magellan sailed west around the world from Seville, Spain on August 10, 1519, he and his crew lost a few minutes every day. Because they were travelling in the same direction as the apparent movement of the sun, their days ended later than those of people who remained in Europe, causing them to start their subsequent days later as well. On November 28, 1520, the Magellan–Elcano expedition had crossed the Pacific Ocean from the coast of South America that would much later be associated with the International Date Line (IDL). However, it would be anachronistic to say that the expedition should have adjusted its clocks according to modern time zones or advanced its calendar by one day upon crossing the line. The International Date Line and the standardized system of global time zones did not yet exist in the modern sense. Instead, the apparent discrepancy in their calendar arose from their continuous westward journey around the globe.

After passing through the Strait of Magellan, the expedition continued sailing through largely uncharted waters in an effort to reach the Spice Islands (now Maluku Islands) by this western route. However, when they reached the Philippines on March 16, 1521, they introduced the date of the western hemisphere on the island.

The expedition's experience eventually provided an important early demonstration of the phenomenon later associated with circumnavigation and the International Date Line: travellers moving continuously westward around the Earth can find their recorded calendar date differs by one day from that of people who remained at their starting point. The discrepancy became particularly significant when the surviving members of the expedition returned to Spain on September 6, 1522.

Spanish period

[edit]

For 323 years, 9 months, and 2 days,[note 1] which lasted from Saturday, March 16, 1521 (Julian Calendar), until Monday, December 30, 1844 (Gregorian Calendar), the Philippines had the same date as Mexico. This was because it was a Spanish colony supplied and controlled via Mexico through Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade, which lasted up to 250 years from July 2, 1565, until September 14, 1815, a few years before Mexico gained independence from Spain on September 27, 1821.[7] After this, Spanish Crown took direct control of the Philippines and governed directly from Madrid. Additionally, the Philippine trading partners turned to Imperial China (now China), the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia and Malacca, Malaysia) and adjacent areas.

The Spanish Governor-General Narciso Claveria consulted the Archbishop of Manila, Jose Segui, about fixing the time discrepancy of the Philippines compared to its Asian neighbors, to fix and ease the trade for the economic sustenance of the territory. On August 16, 1844, Claveria decreed that Tuesday, December 31, 1844, should be removed from the Philippine calendar. So Monday, December 30, 1844, was immediately followed by Wednesday, January 1, 1845, which added 1 day or 24 hours to the local time. This meant that the International Date Line moved from going west of the Philippines to go on the east side of the country to realign itself with the rest of Asia. In other words, the whole archipelago had to follow the eastern hemisphere.[7][8]

At the time, local mean time was used to set clocks, meaning that every place used its own local time based on its longitude because the time was measured by locally observing the Sun.[citation needed]

American period

[edit]

After the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the United States in 1898, the Philippines began moving toward modern standardized time offsets rather than individual local solar times. In the following year, the archipelago first adopted Philippine Time (PHT) as its uniform standard time. Under American colonial rule, the timezone was strictly defined to align with global standards at an offset of GMT+08:00. This change synchronized maritime trade, telegraph communication, and rail transport across the scattered islands.[9]

During World War II, particularly under Japanese occupation (1942–1945), the occupying forces forced the country onto Japan Standard Time (JST). Clocks across the archipelago were advanced by one hour to GMT+09:00 to match Tokyo's schedule. With the liberation of the Philippines occurred from October 20, 1944 to August 15, 1945, the country reverted to its standard GMT+08:00 offset.

Postwar and contemporary period

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Following independence in 1946, time synchronization remained largely voluntary for decades. During this period, the Manila City Hall Clock Tower served as the primary visual anchor for civil time.[10]

Philippine Standard Time was instituted through Batas Pambansa Blg. 8 (that defined the metric system), approved on December 2, 1978, and implemented on January 1, 1983. The Philippines is one of the few countries to officially and almost exclusively use the 12-hour clock in non-military situations.[note 2][citation needed][dubious – discuss]

In September 2011, the Department of Science and Technology proposed to synchronize time nationwide, which was an effort to discourage tardiness and non-standard time displayed on television and radio stations. PAGASA installed a rubidium atomic clock, a GPS receiver, a time interval counter, a distribution amplifier, and a computer to help calculate the time difference with every satellite within its antenna's field of view.[11][12]

In order to promote synchronicity with official time, on May 15, 2013, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act No. 10535 setting the Philippine Standard Time,[13] requiring all government offices and media networks to synchronize their timepieces with PAGASA's rubidium atomic clock.[14][15]

Timeline

[edit]
Period in use Time offset from GMT/UTC Name of time
Saturday, March 16, 1521 (Julian Calendar) – Monday, December 30, 1844 (Gregorian Calendar) GMT−15:56 (in Manila) Local mean time
GMT−16:12 (in Balabac, the westernmost island)
GMT−15:34 (in Davao Oriental, the easternmost area)
Tuesday, December 31, 1844 The day that never occurred as ordered by the Spanish Governor-General Narciso Claveria to add 24 hours to the local mean time.[16] Time zone change[note 3]
Wednesday, January 1, 1845 – May 10, 1899 GMT+08:04 (in Manila) Local mean time
GMT+07:48 (in Balabac, the westernmost island)
GMT+08:26 (in Davao Oriental, the easternmost area)
May 11, 1899 – October 31, 1936 GMT+08:00 Philippine Time
November 1, 1936 – January 31, 1937 GMT+09:00 Philippine Daylight Saving Time
February 1, 1937 – April 30, 1942 GMT+08:00 Philippine Time
May 1, 1942 – October 31, 1944 GMT+09:00 Tokyo Standard Time[note 4]
November 1, 1944 – April 11, 1954 GMT+08:00 Philippine Time
April 12, 1954 – June 30, 1954 GMT+09:00 Philippine Daylight Saving Time
July 1, 1954 – March 21, 1978 GMT/UTC+08:00 Philippine Time
March 22, 1978 – September 20, 1978 UTC+09:00 Philippine Daylight Saving Time
September 21, 1978 – May 20, 1990 UTC+08:00 Philippine Time
May 21, 1990 – July 28, 1990 UTC+09:00 Philippine Daylight Saving Time
July 29, 1990 – May 31, 2013 UTC+08:00 Philippine Time
June 1, 2013 – present UTC+08:00 Philippine Standard Time

Use of daylight saving time

[edit]

Since 1991, the Philippines has not observed daylight saving time. It was in use for short periods during the presidencies of Manuel L. Quezon in 1936–1937, Ramon Magsaysay in 1954, Ferdinand Marcos in 1978, and Corazon Aquino in 1990.[17][18][19]

Time signals

[edit]

Official time signals for Philippine Standard Time (PhST) are managed and generated by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Operating through its Astronomical Observatory in Diliman, Quezon City, PAGASA serves as the country’s official timekeeper as mandated by law.

The technical infrastructure, dissemination methods, and statutory frameworks governing Philippine time signals include:

Technical Infrastructure & Precision

[edit]
  • Precise Time-Scale System (PTSS): The heart of the country's timing system is located at the PAGASA central office. It utilizes a combination of high-precision Rubidium and Cesium atomic clocks. These atomic clocks track time using microwave frequencies of atomic transitions, ensuring an accuracy that deviates by only one second every few million years.[20]
  • Synchronization: The master system links directly into the global Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) framework. It is constantly adjusted and synchronized utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite receivers, time interval counters, and distribution amplifiers.[21]
  • Signal Accuracy: The generated time signals maintain a strict level of precision, operating within microseconds for highly specialized scientific purposes and down to milliseconds for public infrastructure networks.[22]

Dissemination & Public Relay

[edit]
  • Network Time Protocol (NTP): PAGASA distributes the precise national time over the internet using NTP. This protocol allows computer servers, corporate networks, and automated infrastructure (like automated teller machines) to lock onto PhST with extreme accuracy.[23][24][22]
  • Telecommunications & Broadcasting: Local mobile network operators integrate these signals directly into their cellular infrastructure, allowing consumer smartphones and IoT devices to update their clocks automatically.[22]
  • Online Public Access: The public can view and manually synchronize their consumer timepieces using the official government platform known as Oras Pinas (accessible through the official PAGASA website).[21]
[edit]
  • Republic Act No. 10535 (The PhST Act of 2013): Enacted to promote national discipline and dismantle the cultural stereotype of "Filipino Time," this law mandates that all national and local government offices, public institutions, schools, and state-regulated media networks display the synchronized PhST.
  • Compliance Enforcements: All government agencies and private television/radio broadcast networks are legally required to synchronize their timekeeping devices (including corporate bundy clocks) with PAGASA's atomic signal at least once a month. Broadcasters who fail to maintain synchronization face administrative fines or the potential revocation of their operating franchises.
  • National Time Consciousness Week: To reinforce compliance and public awareness, the first week of January is designated annually for nationwide time-synchronization campaigns.

IANA time zone database

[edit]

The IANA time zone database contains one zone for the Philippines in the file zone.tab, named Asia/Manila

Date and time format

[edit]

Date

[edit]
Standard: August 18, 2023 (month day, year or mm/dd/yyyy)
Formal (public documents): the 18th day of August, 2023 or 18 August 2023 (day month year)
Filipino: ika-18 ng Agosto, 2023 or 18 Agosto 2023 (dd-mm-yyyy)
Passport: 18 08 2023 (dd mm yyyy)

Time

[edit]
Standard: 12-hour clock
Military/Scouting: US Military Time
Public Transport and Marathon events: 24-hour clock
Common spoken language
Tagalized Spanish terminology (original Spanish spelling in parentheses; am radio stations and everyday conversation)
8:41 – Alas otso kuwarenta y uno (A las ocho cuarenta y uno)
5:30 – Alas singko y medya (A las cinco y media)
3:00 – Alas tres (A las tres; en punto, literally meaning "on the dot", may be added to signify "o'Clock".)
English (Business, Legal and others)
8:41 pm – Eight forty-one pm
5:30 am – Five Thirty am
3:00 pm – Three O'Clock or Three pm
12:00 pm – Twelve Midday or Twelve Noon – Twelve pm is seldom used as it might be confused with 12 Midnight
12:00 am – Twelve Midnight – Twelve am is seldom used as it might be confused with 12 Noon
Tagalog and Filipino
Starts with Spanish-derived (original spelling in parentheses) and ends with Tagalog – Umaga starts at 5:00 am and ends 11:59 am. Tanghalì is noon. Hapon starts at 1:00 pm and ends 5:59 pm. Gabí starts at 6:00 pm and ends 12:00 am which is Hatinggabi. Madalíng Araw starts at 12:01 am and ends 4:59 am. Except in very formal situations, Filipinos rarely use the vernacular numbers in telling time.
8:41 P.M. – Alas otso kuwarenta y uno (A las ocho cuarenta y uno) ng gabí or Apatnapú't-isá(ng minuto) makalipas ng ikawaló ng gabí or (ika)waló at apatnapú't-isá (na) ng gabi
5:30 A.M. – Alas singko y medya (A las cinco y media) ng umaga or Tatlumpû(ng minuto) makalipas ng ikalimá ng umaga or Kalahati makalipas ng ikalimá ng umaga or (ika)limá at kalaháti ng umaga or (ika)limá at tatlumpû(ng minuto) (na) ng umaga
3:00 P.M. – Alas tres (A las tres) ng hapon o Ikatló ng hapon
12:00 P.M. – Alas dose (A las doce) ng tanghalì o Ikalabíndalawá ng tanghalì
12:00 A.M. – Alas dose (A las doce) ng hatinggabi o Ikalabíndalawá ng hatinggabí
2:00 A.M. – Alas dos ng madalíng araw (A las dos) o Ikalawá ng madalíng araw

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Within the Papal Bull of Pope Gregory XIII that mandated the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Italy, Portugal, and Spain (including its overseas possessions like the Philippines, and the Americas) skipped 10 days to make the process of a calendrical switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, October 4, was followed by Friday, October 15, 1582. Because the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap year day regularly and the Gregorian calendar did not during centennial years (ending with “00”, unless if the centennial year is evenly divisible to 400 years. Then the year will automatically be a "Century Leap Year"), the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 11 days from March 1 (O.S. February 19), 1700 until February 28 (O.S. February 17), 1800, and another one day to 12 days from March 1 (O.S. February 18), 1800 to February 28 (O.S. February 16), 1900; the count of excess days became considered as only 2 instead of 14 at the end of 1844, to acknowledge the 10 days that the Philippines lose during the period when it was using the American date.
  2. ↑ Aside from the 12-hour clock, the Philippines also uses the 24-hour clock format, which some Filipinos prefer for personal use. Smartwatches sold in the country are typically programmed to display the 24-hour format by default. Likewise, smartphones, laptops, and personal computers can be set to either the 12-hour or 24-hour format, depending on the user’s preference. However, despite the availability and use of the 24-hour format on devices, Filipinos generally continue to pronounce and express time using the 12-hour format in everyday conversation.
  3. ↑ The change also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands and Palau for being part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines during that time.
  4. ↑ During World War II, the Philippines became under the control of Imperial Japan following the "Fall of Manila" on January 2, 1942, caused by the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army. However, Japan was defeated by the United States Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf and then liberated Visayas on October 26, 1944. After a few days, the clocks set back to Philippine Standard Time.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Republic Act No. 10535, The Philippine Standard Time (PST) Act of 2013". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. May 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ Medina, Marielle (January 4, 2017). "National Time Consciousness Week". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Inquirer Research. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ Lacanilao, Arianne (January 5, 2018). "DOST urges Pinoys to follow PH Standard Time". Philippine News Agency. Philippine Canadian Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ "PAGASA". Philippine Standard Time.
  5. ↑ "Republic Act No. 9522". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  6. ↑ Guzman, Daniel De (August 6, 2017). "The Concept of Time According to Pre-Colonial Filipinos | Aswang Project".
  7. 1 2 van Gent, R. H. "A History of the International Date Line". Webspace.science.uu.nl. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  8. ↑ Tantiangco, Aya (January 1, 2017). "Philippines skipped New Year's Eve and lost a day in 1844". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  9. ↑ [dead link]
  10. ↑ Macababbad, E. J. "Move away from 'Filipino time'". Philstar.com.
  11. ↑ Pedrasa, Ira (September 26, 2011). "Juan Time: Filipino time redefined". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Clocks and countdowns set for 'Juan Time'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 31, 2011. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ Republic Act No. 10535 (May 15, 2013), "The Philippine Standard Time (PST) Act of 2013", Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, archived from the original on July 3, 2017
  14. ↑ "PHL Standard Time to counter 'Filipino time' starting June 1". GMA News. May 25, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Are you on Philippine Standard Time? | ABS-CBN News". Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  16. ↑ Joel (August 27, 2007). "Missing date in Philippines history: 31 December 1844". wordpress.com. Far Outliers. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ Dela Cruz, Christa I. (August 30, 2024). "The Philippines Actually Observed Daylight Saving Time in the Past – History of Daylight Saving Time in the Philippines". Esquire Philippines. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Executive Order No. 415". The Lawphil Project – Arellano Law Foundation. July 20, 1990. Retrieved June 8, 2026. LIFTING THE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST) PROGRAM INSTITUTED UNDER THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 17, SERIES OF 1990, EFFECTIVE MIDNIGHT OF JULY 28, 1990
  19. ↑ "Daylight saving time 2024 in Philippines". timeanddate.com.
  20. ↑ https://businessmirror.com.ph/2018/01/21/no-more-filipino-time-it-should-be-on-time
  21. 1 2 "It's Oras Pinas Time: DOST promotes synchronizing Ph time". January 6, 2022.
  22. 1 2 3 "What the Time Zone for Philippines: Understanding the Single Standard Time in the Archipelago". September 24, 2026.
  23. ↑ https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/10/67706
  24. ↑ https://www.congress.gov.ph/media/press-releases/2837
[edit]
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