Are Saturdays and Sundays Counted in Reglementary Periods?
An exhaustive guide for Philippine practitioners
1. The Core Question
Whether Saturdays and Sundays “count” when you compute reglementary periods depends on three concentric layers of authority:
- General civil-law rules (Civil Code & Administrative Code)
- Procedural or agency-specific rules (e.g., Rules of Court, NLRC Rules, BIR issuances)
- Special statutes, circulars, or contractual stipulations (e.g., COVID-19 suspensions, bargained-for “working-day” clauses)
Understanding how these tiers interact is the key to getting deadlines right—and avoiding fatal late-filings.
2. Statutory Baseline: Civil Code & Administrative Code
| Provision | Essential text | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 13, Civil Code | “When laws speak of days, days shall be understood as twenty-four hours; a month is thirty days, unless it refers to a month on the calendar …” | Default is calendar days. Weekends are counted unless another rule intervenes. |
| Sec. 31, Rev. Adm. Code (Act 2711) | If the deadline “falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the act may be performed on the next succeeding business day.” | Last-day rule: weekends & holidays extend only the last day, not the entire period. |
Thus, weekends run with the clock, but if the final day lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, performance may slide to the next working day.
3. Judiciary Perspective: The Rules of Court
Rule 22 §1 – How to compute time
- Exclude the first day; include the last.
- If the last day is “Sunday, legal holiday, or when court offices are closed, the act may be done on the next working day.”
Why Saturdays are treated like legal holidays Courts have not been physically open on Saturdays since the 1980s. To harmonize practice with Rule 22, the Supreme Court repeatedly characterized Saturday as a legal holiday for filing purposes:
- Citibank v. Gatchalian, G.R. No. 111222 (Jan 18 1995) – service on a Saturday was timely on the next Monday.
- Solar Team Entertainment v. Ricafort, G.R. No. 140263 (Aug 15 2002) – reiterated Saturday-as-holiday doctrine.
- Landbank v. Honeycomb Builders, G.R. No. 203414 (Aug 5 2015) – modern affirmation.
Administrative Circulars
- AC No. 3-99 (June 1999) & AC No. 35-2015: formalized that pleadings due on a Saturday may be filed on the next court workday without penalty.
- Bar Matter 850 (1998) reopened courts on Saturday only for bar redemptions; it did not disturb the legal-holiday treatment for computation.
Practical upshot: For any judicial deadline measured in days, count Saturdays and Sundays—but push the expiration forward if the last day lands on either.
4. Agency-Specific Rules: Same Principle, Local Flavor
| Forum | Period wording | Weekend count? | Last-day treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| NLRC (Labor Code; 2011 NLRC Rules) | “Ten calendar days” to appeal | Yes, weekends run. | If Day 10 is Sat/Sun/holiday → next working day. |
| COMELEC (COMELEC Rules of Proc.) | “Five days” for verified answer | Yes. | Same last-day rule. |
| BIR (NIRC; RR 13-2003) | Returns “on or before” fixed dates | Calendar days. | If due date falls on weekend/holiday → next banking day. |
| Court of Tax Appeals | Mirrors Rules of Court. | Count them; last-day pushes. |
Tip: Always read the forum’s own rule first. Some bodies (e.g., Securities Regulation Code appeals) speak of “working days,” in which case weekends are excluded entirely.
5. Special Statutes & Tolling Events
- Speedy Trial Act (RA 8493) – counts calendar days for arraignment/periods to try; weekends included unless last day exception applies.
- Election Gun Ban Periods; Anti-Terrorism Act detention clocks – statutes expressly adopt 24-hour days, no weekend discount.
- COVID-19 Supreme Court Circulars (e.g., AC 37-2020) – tolled ALL periods nationwide (weekends became irrelevant while tolling lasted). Always check for similar force-majeure orders (typhoons, earthquakes).
6. Civil-Law & Contractual Periods
Under Art. 1155 Civil Code (prescription) and Art. 1196 (obligations with a period), “days” are calendar unless parties stipulate otherwise. A clause such as “within 15 working days” lawfully excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and official holidays, overriding default rules.
7. Common Practitioner Pitfalls
| Pitfall | Illustration | Avoidance |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking ‘working days’ when the rule says ‘days’ | NLRC appeal mailed on Day 10 falls on Saturday and posted Monday → late (use personal filing or registry on Friday). | Read wording; “calendar days” = count weekends. |
| Wrong last-day push | Due date Sunday, file Tuesday. | The grace is only to Monday (next business day). |
| Assuming e-filing stops the clock | Emailing on Sunday after office hours is still timely because e-filing allowed 24/7 under A.M. No. 20-12-01-SC. | Verify that the court/agency accepts e-filing; if so, you may beat a Sunday deadline without the push-forward rule. |
8. Quick-Reference Algorithm
- Identify the governing rule (statute, Rules of Court, agency reg, or contract).
- Determine if the period is in calendar days or working days.
- Count from the day after notice/service (or the triggering event).
- Include every intervening Saturday, Sunday, and holiday unless the instrument says otherwise.
- If—and only if—the final day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, shift to the next working day.
- Double-check for force-majeure suspensions (pandemics, special SC circulars).
9. Conclusion
In Philippine practice, weekends are part of the ticking clock for almost every reglementary period. Their principal effect is defensive: they can extend the last day, but they rarely pause the running time in between. Competent lawyers, accountants, and HR officers therefore:
- diarize both the calendar deadline and the pushed deadline (if any),
- watch for superseding circulars that suspend or shorten periods, and
- write “working-day” language into contracts whenever weekend immunity is genuinely desired.
Mastering these nuances is not mere clerical trivia; it is case-winning (or case-losing) strategy.
Disclaimer: This article is for academic discussion. Always consult the latest Supreme Court circulars, agency rules, and jurisprudence before relying on any procedural computation.