Bill mandating Phl standard time awaits P-Noy's signature

MANILA, Philippines - A bill, which seeks to synchronize official time devices in the entire country so that every watch or clock ticks to the same time is just awaiting President Aquino’s signature.

House Bill 164 aims to set Philippine Standard Time (PST) in all official sources throughout the country as well as to declare the first seven days of every year as national time consciousness week.

The bill also seeks to provide funds for the installation, operation and maintenance of synchronized time devices to be displayed in key public places.

The measure mandates that all national and local government offices shall display the PST on their official time devises, including bundy clocks, in accordance with the official time being provided by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) using its network time protocol.

Under the bill, the PAGASA’s Time Service Unit, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) shall be tasked to monitor, maintain and disseminate the PST throughout the country.

It further states that the PAGASA shall operate and maintain a timekeeping system to perform these functions and shall endeavor to install and maintain sufficiently large and prominently displayed synchronized time devices in all their field stations and key public places. 

The bill mandates the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to require the participation of all government and private television and radio stations in order to ensure that such synchronization can be undertaken even in the most remote parts of the country.

The proposal penalizes owners of private television and radio stations who fail to calibrate and synchronize their time devices with PST during their broadsheet with a fine of not less than P30,000 but not more than P50,000 and shall suffer revocation and cancellation of their franchise to operate in case of a second offense.