Official Gazette

- The official journal of the Republic of the Philippines

- What does it publish?
o All legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature
o Executive and Administrative orders and proclamations,
except such as have no general applicability
o Decisions or abstracts of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeals as may be deemed by said courts of sufficient
importance to be so published
o Such documents or classes of documents as may be
required so to be published by law
o Such documents or classes of documents as the President
of the Philippines shall determine from time to time to have
general applicability and legal effect, or which he may
authorize so to be published
-

Who publishes it?

o The National Printing Office

Editorial and Publication

o It shall be edited in the Office of the President and
published weekly in Pilipino or in the English language
Editorial responsibilities - Presidential
Communications Development and Strategic
Planning Office (PCDSPO)
Published every Monday
o It shall be sold and distributed by the National Printing
Office which shall promptly mail copies thereof to
subscribers free of postage

Online Official Gazette

- In 2010, it went online and adopted the URL www.gov.ph
- It has since been updated regularly with speeches, reports,
statements, press releases and documents from the office of the
President and other departments
- The websites servers are maintained and secured at the data
center of Department of Science and TechnologyAdvanced
Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI)
- The staff of the website, with the help of private partners, such
as CD Technologies Asia, Inc. (CD Asia), is currently in the
process of posting content from the old print version, covering
thousands of documents, including thousands of laws from 1901
onward.

Note: In 2011 the President announced that the Official Gazette will
serve as the national online portal to the Philippine government
The Official Gazette is the official journal of the Republic of the
Philippines. It has been in print since 1902 and is edited at the Office of
the President by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 638, as amended by
the Administrative Code of 1987. On a weekly basis, it publishes
Executive Issuances, Republic Acts, Judicial papers, and other
government documents. During the Philippine Commonwealth and
Third Republic, it also published the Presidents statements and a log of
his activities.
In 2010, the Official Gazette went online, adopting the URL
www.gov.ph. It went live on July 26, 2010, the day of President Benigno
S. Aquino IIIs first State of the Nation Address. It has since been
updated regularly with speeches, reports, statements, press releases,
and documents from the Office of the President and other
departments. It has also revived the practice of logging the Presidents
official activities.
The staff of the website, with the help of private partners, such as CD
Technologies Asia, Inc. (CD Asia), is currently in the process of posting
content from the old print version, covering thousands of documents,
including thousands of laws from 1901 onward. In 2011 the President
announced that the Official Gazette will serve as the national online
portal to the Philippine government. This project is being accomplished
through partnerships with the Department of Science and Technology
Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) and with the
National Computer Center (NCC).
The websites servers are maintained and secured at the data center of
DOST-ASTI. By virtue of Executive Order No. 4, s. 2010, the Official
Gazettes editorial responsibilities fall under the Presidential
Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO).
The Official Gazette print edition continues to be published by the
National Printing Office.
Please note that the posting of laws and issuances in this website is for
information dissemination. The effectivity of laws, regulations, and
issuances start 15 days, unless otherwise provided in the document,
after their publication in the Official Gazette print version or in two
newspapers of general circulation as mandated by the Administrative
Code of 1987 and Executive Order No. 200, s. 1987.
History of the Official Gazette

The Official Gazette was created by decree of Act No. 453, An Act
providing for the publication by the Insular Government of an Official
Gazette, under the general direction of the Department of Public
Instruction. It was enacted by the Philippine Commission on
September 2, 1902, by authority of the United States of America. Vol.
1, No. 1 came out on September 10, 1902.
In March 5, 1903, Act No. 664 amended the earlier Act No. 453 to
provide for further distribution of the Official Gazette:
SECTION 3. The Official Gazette shall be published weekly in two parts,
one part in English and the other in Spanish. Each part shall be issued
separately and shall contain all legislative Acts and all resolutions of a
public nature of the Insular Legislature, all executive orders, such as
decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court, the Court of
Customs Appeals, and the Court of Land Registration, as may be
deemed by said courts of sufficient importance to be printed and
published, and such other performance documents as are usually
published in an official gazette which may be designated for
publication by the Secretary of Public Instruction or which may be
recommended for publication by the editor and approved by the
Secretary of Public Instruction.
Commonwealth Act No. 638, An Act to provide for the uniform
publication and distribution of the Official Gazette, was passed by the
Third Session of the Second National Assembly on May 22, 1941 and
subsequently approved by President Manuel L. Quezon on June 10,
1941.
SECTION 1. There shall be published in the Official Gazette (1) all
important legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature of the
Congress of the Philippines; (2) all executive and administrative orders
and proclamations, except such as have no general applicability; (3)
decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeals as may be deemed by said courts of sufficient importance
to be so published; (4) such documents or classes of documents as
may be required so to be published by law; and (5) such documents or
classes of documents as the President of the Philippines shall
determine from time to time to have general applicability and legal
effect, or which he may authorize so to be published: Provided, That for
the purpose of this section every order or document which shall
prescribe a penalty shall be deemed to have general applicability and
legal effect: And provided, further, That the term document as used
in this section shall include any order, regulation, rule, certificate,
license, notice, or similar instrument issued, prescribed, or
promulgated by any executive department, bureau, office, commission,

independent board, agency, or instrumentality of the administrative

branch of the Government, but not the legislative or judicial branch of
the Government.
Administrative Code of 1987 provided for the Official Gazettes role in
the operation and effect of laws. As per Book I, Chapter 5, Section 18:
Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion
of their publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation, unless it is otherwise provided. Book I, Chapter 6, Section
24, it likewise specified the vital role of the Official Gazette concerning
the passage of laws:
SECTION 24. Contents. There shall be published in the Official
Gazette all legislative acts and resolutions of a public nature; all
executive and administrative issuances of general application;
decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeals, or other courts of similar rank, as may be deemed by said
courts of sufficient importance to be so published; such documents or
classes of documents as may be required so to be published by law;
and such documents or classes of documents as the President shall
determine from time to time to have general application or which he
may authorize so to be published.
The publication of any law, resolution or other official documents in the
Official Gazette shall be prima facie evidence of its authority.
SECTION 25. Editing and Publications. The Official Gazette shall be
edited in the Office of the President and published weekly in Pilipino or
in the English language. It shall be sold and distributed by the National
Printing Office which shall promptly mail copies thereof to subscribers
free of postage.
Signed by President Corazon C. Aquino, Executive Order No. 200, s.
1987, Providing for the publication of laws either in the Official
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines as a
requirement for their effectivity, reiterated the Official Gazettes role
in the legislative process, yet allowed for the integration of national
newspapersgiven the Official Gazettes limited circulation at the
time.
EO 200, s. 1987, was borne of a Supreme Court ruling from the case of
Taada. et al. vs. Tuvera, et al. (G.R. No. 63915, December 29, 1986),
which observed that [t]here is much to be said of the view that the
publication need not be made in the Official Gazette, considering its
erratic release and limited readership. Part of the ruling reads: The
Court therefore declares that presidential issuances of general
application, which have not been published, shall have no force and
effect.

Executive Order No. 4, s. 2010 was signed by President Benigno S.

Aquino III in keeping with the avowed policy of this administration to
ensure transparency and full and appropriate disclosure of policies,
programs, official activities, and achievement of the Office of the
President and Executive which are of public concern. EO 4 created the
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning
Office, which had, among its functions, editorial responsibilities over
the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.