Globe, Smart, or Sun? Manila, Cebu, or Davao? Telephone Numbers in the Philippines

Posted on July 6th, 2011. Written by Rico.

Our entries on the different kinds of cellphone numbers in the Philippines—and what telco they represent—has always proven popular. Why stop there, when we can provide the same information for landline area codes as well?

Find out if a Number is Globe, Smart, or Sun

All cellphone numbers in the Philippines feature a three-digit prefix (AKA network codes) followed by the actual seven-digit telephone number—think of the prefixes as area codes that route calls to a telco’s network. Here were the first ones used: 917 for Globe, 918 for Smart, and 973 for Express Telecom (no longer works).

As the number of mobile users grew however, it became necessary to use more network codes and maintain a high availability of numbers. Seven digits only allow almost 10 million (9,999,999) different numbers after all. Here are the network codes in use as of this writing:

Globe	Smart	Sun
905 906 915 916 917 926 927 935 936 937 996 997	907 908 909 910 912 918 919 920 921 928 929 930 938 (formerly Red Mobile) 939 946 948 949 989 999	922 923 932 933 934

What’s the area code for a province or region?

What if you’re in Manila and you wanted to call a number in Cebu, or Davao? The Philippines is divided seven different areas; the first number of any area code ranges from 2 to 7.

Except for Metro Manila, Rizal, and Obando in Bulacan (a municipality bordering the Philippine metropolis), all area codes have two digits. The second one is tied to specific locations.

Area Code	Location(s)
2	Metro Manila, Rizal, and Obando in Bulacan
32	Cebu
33	Guimaras and Iloilo
34	Negros Occidental
35	Negros Oriental and Siquijor
36	Aklan (including Boracay), Antique, Capiz
38	Bohol
42	Aurora, Marinduque, Quezon and Romblon
43	Batangas, Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro
44	Bulacan (except Obando) and Nueva Ecija
45	Pampanga and Tarlac
46	Cavite
47	Bataan and Zambales
48	Palawan
49	Laguna
52	Albay and Catanduanes
53	Biliran, Leyte and Southern Leyte
54	Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur
55	Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar
56	Masbate and Sorsogon
62	Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay
63	Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur
64	Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat
65	Zamboanga del Norte
68	Sulu and Tawi-Tawi
72	La Union
74	Cordillera Administrative Region (including Baguio)
75	Pangasinan
77	Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur
78	Cagayan Valley
82	Davao del Sur
83	Sarangani and South Cotabato
84	Davao del Norte
85	Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur
86	Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur
87	Composetela Valley and Davao Oriental
88	Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental

Here’s a visual location map of the area codes listed above, sourced from Wikipedia. As you can see, 78, 48, 87, and 68 represent the north-, west-, east-, and south-most extent of the Philippines.

How to Dial Numbers in the Philippines

If you’re calling a number within the same area or network code as you, using the seven-digit telephone number alone works. Let’s say you’re based in Basilan and calling “8888888″, the number of a store nearby:

8888888

If you’re calling a number based in a different area or network code, dial 0, the code, then the number. Say you’re in Davao City calling the same store Basilan:

0628888888

If you’re calling from outside the Philippines, you’ll need to dial +63 (the country’s international code), the area code, then the number. Note that you don’t use any leading zero. To call the store in Basilan from the US:

+63628888888

Got questions? Hit the comments below. All the information you see here is sourced from Wikipedia, and verified by a contact within the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).