Question & AnswerQ&A (Commonwealth Act No. 638)
The main purpose of Commonwealth Act No. 638 is to provide for the uniform publication and distribution of the Official Gazette in the Philippines.
According to Section 1, the Official Gazette must publish (1) important legislative acts and public resolutions of Congress, (2) executive and administrative orders and proclamations with general applicability, (3) decisions or abstracts of decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals deemed important, (4) documents required by law to be published, and (5) documents the President determines to have general applicability and legal effect.
The term 'document' includes any order, regulation, rule, certificate, license, notice, or similar instrument issued or promulgated by any executive department, bureau, office, commission, independent board, agency, or instrumentality of the administrative branch of the Government but excludes the legislative or judicial branches.
The Director of Printing is authorized to publish the Official Gazette, appoint necessary personnel with the approval of the proper department head, make and collect subscription charges, and manage its sale and distribution through the Bureau of Printing.
The Official Gazette must be published in the English language; however, an edition in Spanish may also be issued if determined necessary by the President of the Philippines.
The Director of Printing shall publish the Official Gazette as frequently as the public interest of the Government may require.
Yes, each department, bureau, office, agency, or instrumentality of the National Government and local government units must subscribe to the Official Gazette and pay for it out of their respective funds.
An index shall be supplied at the end of each quarter as part of the Official Gazette, and the index at the end of the last quarter shall be complete for the entire year.
Yes, any order or document that prescribes a penalty is deemed to have general applicability and legal effect and therefore must be published in the Official Gazette.
The Act took effect upon its approval on June 10, 1941.