Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
 First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______________ 
Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO  
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos 
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A STANDARD NUMERIC DATE FORMAT IN ALL 
OFFICIAL AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN THE COUNTRY 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Standardization is the process of establishing a framework to be observed and 
adopted by involved parties to promote regularity, uniformity, and compatibility. This 
bill seeks to standardize the written format of a date when represented in numerical 
characters, in the form of two-digit number representing the month of the year (“MM”) 
followed by another two-digit number representing the day of the month (“DD”), and a 
four-digit number representing the year (“YYYY”). The digits representing the month, 
day and year may be separated by a hyphen or a forward slash. This format is the most 
common numerical format observed in the country.  
This humble representation believes that providing a standard numerical date 
format will promote efficiency and accuracy in day-to-day transactions. It will also 
prevent misrepresentation, ambiguity, and confusion in written official and legal 
documents.  
It is for the foregoing premises that the approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
ALFRED C. DELOS SANTOS 
Representative, Ang Probinsyano Party-List 
October 5, 2023
4:10 pm
9387


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
 First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______________ 
Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO  
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos 
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A STANDARD NUMERICAL DATE NOTATION IN ALL 
OFFICIAL AND LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN THE COUNTRY 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:  
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Standard Date Format 
Act of 2023.”  
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State shall promote efficiency and 
accuracy in official and legal transactions by providing a standard numerical date 
format to avoid ambiguity, confusion, and misrepresentation.  
SECTION 3. Standard Date Format. – Dates written in numerical notation shall 
follow consist of the two-digit number representing the month (MM), followed by the 
two-digit number representing the day (DD) and the four-digit number representing the 
year (YYYY). 
The standard date format may be written with each unit of time separated by a 
forward slash (MM/DD/YYYY) or a hyphen (MM-DD-YYYY).  
SECTION 4. Scope. – This Act shall apply to all official and legal documents which 
require that dates are to be written in numerical notation. 
SECTION 5. Separability. – If any provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other 
provisions hereof. 
SECTION 6. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, orders, and issuances or 
portions thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby 
repealed, amended, or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 7. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.  
Approved, 
9387