This is in response to your query as to what constitutes a newspaper of general

circulation. Please note our findings below.

To be a newspaper of general circulation, a publication should comply with the

following requirements: (1) it is enough that it is published for the dissemination of local
news and general information; (2) that it has a bona fide subscription list of paying
subscribers; and (3) that it is published at regular intervals. 1

Over and above all these, the newspaper must be available to the public in
general, and not just to a select few chosen by the publisher. 2 Further, the newspaper
need not have the largest circulation, so long as it is of general circulation.3

In the case of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, Inc. v. Peafiel, 4 the
Supreme Court has succinctly characterized what it takes to be a newspaper of general
circulation, to wit:

True, to be a newspaper of general circulation, it is enough that it is

published for the dissemination of local news and general
information, that it has a bona fide subscription list of paying
subscribers, and that it is published at regular intervals. Over and
above all these, the newspaper must be available to the public in
general, and not just to a select few chosen by the publisher.
Otherwise, the precise objective of publishing the notice of sale in the
newspaper will not be realized.

In fact, to ensure a wide readership of the newspaper, jurisprudence

suggests that the newspaper must also be appealing to the public in
general. The Court has, therefore, held in several cases that the
newspaper must not be devoted solely to the interests, or published
for the entertainment, of a particular class, profession, trade, calling,
race, or religious denomination. The newspaper need not have the
largest circulation so long as it is of general circulation.

The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), or any governmental office for that
matter, does not have an official list of newspapers of general circulation wherein legal
or judicial notices may be published. It is the Executive Judge of a Regional Trial Court
(RTC) who has the power to accredit newspapers or periodicals that may publish such
legal or judicial notices.

Nevertheless, it is clear that publication of notices for national dissemination may

be published in newspapers or periodicals with national circulation without need of
accreditation.5 Accreditation only applies to newspapers or periodicals of general

1 Alvarez v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 192591, June 29, 2011; Perez v. Perez,
G.R. No. 143768, March 28, 2005.
2 Id.
3 Banta v. Pacheco, G.R. No. L-48133, December 31, 1942
4 G.R. No. 173976, February 27, 2009
5 Section 1, A.M. No. 01-1-07-SC, Guidelines in the Accreditation of Newspapers and
Periodicals and in the Distribution of Legal Notices and Advertisements for Publication,
16 October 2001.
circulation in a particular province or city.6 According to the OCA, the RTCs in each
locality have a record of these accredited newspapers and periodicals.

6 Id, Secs. 1 & 2.