The Philippines'
many time zones

What time is it?

Whenever I am asked that question, I don't know if I could give an accurate answer. That's because the Philippines apparently has many time zones, if we go by the radio stations and individual timepieces.

I've had many clocks and many watches. I learned that the most accurate timepieces are battery operated quartz clocks or watches. I know, for instance, that my Seiko automatic diver's watch runs faster than it actually should, and I find myself resetting it from time to time (pun intended).

I once received an electric clock from Japan and I set it for 6 a.m. When it rang, I got out of bed and took a shower and dressed up for work. It was only then when I noticed that it was still very dark outside. My electric clock said 6 a.m., all right, but when I checked with my wristwatch, the time was actually 3:00!

It was then when I checked and discovered that the electric clock, which was built for the Japanese market, ran on 50 hertz of electricity while our system in the Philippines runs on 60. I don't exactly know how that affects the time but I guessed that was the cause of the time difference of three hours.

Most radio stations are not very accurate when telling time. They give varying times with discrepancies of up to 10 minutes per station. I don't know whether they intentionally tell the wrong time so they could tell who their listeners are from the time they go by or they simply couldn't afford to buy accurate timepieces. Could it be that they also have the 50 hertz clocks?

A few years ago, I decided to be a stickler for the exact time. But to my dismay, I always got left behind by buses and boats, who were obviously on a different time zone.

For a long time, there also was a "Silliman time" in Dumaguete. That meant being five to ten minutes in advance. That got me into endless and fruitless debates with my children who insisted on getting to school ten minutes early because that was "Silliman Time." Luckily, some people in Silliman thought it best to go by the international standard in order to avoid mix-ups. This group went about changing clocks within the SU campus and in public clocks in Dumaguete, as well as the port and bus stations.

For people living in the Philippines, having a timepiece that is accurate to the minute may not be as valuable as when one is in another country waiting in freezing cold for the bus that comes once every three minutes.

I didn't give much thought to knowing the precise time until lately, when Americans started joining our biking group. That was when 5:30 meant just that. I decided to buy a chronometer for my bicycle and set it to the Philippine standard time. To do that, I had to go to the Pagasa website (pagasa.dost.gov.ph) and noted the Observed Time.

The following day, I proudly showed my bike clock to Dale, who said my time was two minutes behind the National Bureau of Standards' time. Then Cobbie came along and his time was one minute behind Dale's and one minute ahead of mine.

In the end, the three of us just agreed to disagree, taking comfort in the thought that we live just within minutes of each other.*

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