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EJ Macababbad - The Philippine Star
January 4, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — As Filipinos make their resolutions for the new year, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is intensifying its campaign to promote the value of punctuality against the long-standing tradition of “Filipino time.”
The habit of being late for meetings and events – sometimes by hours – has become a source of frustration for those Filipinos who value time.
Through its “Oras Pinas: Filipino, Time Ka” campaign, the DOST reminds the public, via giant LED displays and pre-movie commercials, that breaking the habit starts with synchronizing clocks to the country’s official time.
“The goal is simple: sync everyone’s timepieces, mobile phones’ time and mindset with the Philippine Standard Time (PhST),” the DOST said in a statement on Saturday. “By choosing to be on Oras Pinas, one is not just following the time but showing respect to fellow Filipinos and helping the economy grow.”
The campaign is in line with the celebration of National Time Consciousness Week, which runs until Jan. 7.
Public historian Xiao Chua said in a recent radio interview that the culture of “Filipino time” dates back to the Spanish colonial period.
“During the Spanish period, theater performances started late because they waited for the governor-general or other officials to arrive,” he said.
Chua cited the work of University of Santo Tomas history professor Augusto de Viana, who observed that arriving late was seen as a display of power and social importance.
When Filipinos started adopting this habit during the American era, according to Chua, colonial administrators gave it a name and labeled locals as “lazy.”
“In many colonial countries, because people look at time spatially, they say they’re already lazy,” the historian said.
Before colonization, ancestors followed a spatial concept of time, guided by natural cues such as the position of the sun and moon or the agricultural cycle.
“When you look at the sun before, you’re not saying three o’clock or four o’clock. What you’re saying is either twilight or evening – nature’s observation of where the sun is,” Chua explained.
“That’s why Filipinos are crazy because we’ll say, ‘Let’s see each other later in the afternoon.’ But the afternoon is so long; still, it’s OK because Filipinos used to think that way,” he added.
Former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. designated the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration as the country’s official timekeeper in 1977 through Presidential Decree 1149, making the agency responsible for maintaining and disseminating PhST.
Despite this, it took the government 37 years to pass a law requiring all government offices to synchronize their timepieces with the official standard, as compliance remained largely voluntary for decades.
The Philippine Standard Time Act of 2013, signed by former president Benigno Aquino III, institutionalized the use of PhST across government agencies and mandated public and private schools to conduct information campaigns on “the value of time and the need to respect the time of others,” aiming to improve efficiency, coordination and public discipline.
Chua advised Filipinos to be more mindful of how they use their time, stressing that poor time management undermines productivity.
“Time management is important because when you have time, you have money…and you also can have rest,” he said.
