ARTICLE 13. When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood that years are of three hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise.
If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which they respectively have.
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included. (7a)
source: law.jpg
Explanation/Discussion:
(1) Examples of how periods are computed
a. 10 months=300 days
Thus a debt payable in 10 months must be paid at the end of 300 days, and not on the same date of a month, ten months later.
b. 1 year=365 days
This does not, however, apply in computing the age of a person. Thus a person becomes 21 years old on his 21st birthday anniversary, and not on the date arrived at by multiplying 21 by 365 days. However, in case the law speaks of years (as in prescriptive periods for crimes), it is believed that the number of years involved should be multiplied by 365. thus if a crime that is committed today prescribes in 10 years the end of said period would be 365 times 10 or 3,650 days from today. In effect therefore, the calendar reckoning is used because certain years are leap years.
c. March = 31 days
This is because the month is specifically designated by name, thus, if in a contract it is stipulated that performance should be done say in the month of “March,” the act can still be validly performed on March 31.
d. One week = seven successive days
But a week of labor, in the absence of any agreement, is understood to comprehend only six labor days.
(2) Civil or Solar Month
The civil or solar or calendar month is that which agrees with the Gregorian Calendar, and those months in said calendar are known by the names of January, February, March, etc. They are composed of unequal portions of time.
(3) Meaning of day applied to the filing of pleadings
If the last day of submitting a pleading is today, and at 11:40 p.m. (after office hours) today it is filed, the Supreme Court has held that it is properly filed on time because a day consists of 24 hours. This presupposes of course that the pleading was duly received by a person authorized to do so.
(4) computation of periods
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included. Thus 12 days after august 18, 1988. In others words we just add 12 to the first mentioned date.
(5) Rule if the last day is a Sunday or a legal holiday
If the last day is a Sunday or a legal holiday, is the act due that day or the following day? It depends:
a. In an ordinary contract, the general rule is that an act is due even if the last day be a Sunday or a legal holiday. Thus a debt due on a Sunday must, in the absence of an agreement, be paid on that Sunday. There are, of course, some exceptions, among them the maturity date of a negotiable instrument.
b. When the time refers to a period prescribed or allowed by the rules of court, by an order of a court, or by any order applicable statute, if the last day is a Sunday or a legal holiday, it is understood that the last day should really be the next day, provided said day is neither a Sunday nor a legal holiday.
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