TIME’S UP! (Time to change from Philippine Time to Philippine Standard Time)

By Siesta-friendly

It’s time we equate “Philippine Time” with Philippine Standard Time. It is best we all do now that all national and local government offices are required to “display the Philippine Standard Time (PST) on their official time devices, including bundy clocks, in accordance with the official time being provided by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)” pursuant to Sec. 2 of R.A. 10535 (or “The Philippine Standard Time (PST) Act of 2013”).

And, yes, there are consequences - although only on a little segment of the private sector. Under Sec. 7 of RA 10535, “[o]wners of private television and radio stations who shall fail to calibrate and synchronize their time devices with the PST during their broadcast shall, upon hearing and due proceedings, be penalized with a fine of not less than Thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00) but not more than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) and in case of second offense, revocation and cancellation of their franchises to operate.” It does seem a bit extreme for missing a second or a minute or two.

Why doesn’t the law penalize government offices for failing “to calibrate and synchronize their time devices with the PST”? And why not also punish all private offices or institutions for the same failure? Who knows?

Section 3 of Implementing Rules and Regulations, however, provide that “[a]ny government employee or office, who is principally responsible for the implementation of the law, shall fail to calibrate and synchronize the devises with the PST shall be administratively liable without prejudice to any civil or criminal liability that may be appropriately imposed.”  Who are “principally responsible for the implementation of the law”?  Who knows?

Go to http://kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/ourtime.shtml and follow the instructions -

Step 1: Click or select "Date and Time" in system icon tray located in the lower right corner of the taskbar.

Step 2: "Date and Time" window will pop up. Then Click or select "change date and time settings..."

Step 3: "Date and Time Setting" window will show. Then select the tab "Internet Time".

Step 4: After selecting the "Internet Time" tab, click or select "Change settings..." button and "Internet Time Settings" window will pop up.

Step 5: In "Internet Time Settings", type "ntp.pagasa.dost.gov.ph" in server textbox highlighted in red, then press "Update now".

Step 6: For the last part, wait for your computer to sync to the server. A message will inform you if update is successful.

NOTE: If you notice that after synching, your computer clock didn’t match the PhST, just keep on refreshing until it finally synched with PhST. It is normal at the beginning, because it will take time to load a page. Refresh it at least three times (3x) until it displayed the correct PhST.

Its a new year and its time we have a shed an old bad trait.  Make Philippine Standard Time the new Philippine time.

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