The Philippines address format runs from the recipient down to the province: name, then house or unit number and street, then barangay and city or municipality, then the four-digit ZIP code followed by the province (or “Metro Manila”), with PHILIPPINES as the last line for mail from abroad. The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) places the ZIP code to the left of the province or city name, as in “1207 METRO MANILA” or “2000 PAMPANGA.”
Key Takeaways
- Line order: recipient, house or unit and street, barangay and city or municipality, ZIP code plus province or Metro Manila, then PHILIPPINES.
- The barangay is essential. It’s the smallest unit of local government and separates neighborhoods inside a city where street names repeat.
- ZIP codes have four digits and go before the province or city name on the last local line, not after it.
- Metro Manila replaces the province for addresses in cities such as Makati, Quezon City, Taguig and Pasig.
- Write everything in English, left-aligned, with the country in capitals on the final line.
What is the correct Philippines address format?
A Philippine address is stacked one element per line, left-aligned, from the individual up to the province. PHLPost‘s addressing standard, published through the Universal Postal Union, uses this structure:
- Recipient’s name, with a title where known
- House or unit number, building, street, and subdivision or village if there is one
- Barangay, followed by the city or municipality
- Four-digit ZIP code, followed by the province, or METRO MANILA for the capital region
- PHILIPPINES, on its own line, for mail sent from another country
Here is the exact format for an address in a province, taken from the PHLPost example on file with the UPU:
Mr. Samuel H. Magtanggol
96 Hermogenes St., Sofa Subdivision
Del Pilar, San Fernando
2000 PAMPANGA
PHILIPPINES
“Del Pilar” is the barangay, “San Fernando” is the city, 2000 is the ZIP code and Pampanga is the province. A US shipper preparing a label for shipping to the Philippines from the USA uses the same order on the USPS or UPS address fields.
What does each line of a Philippine address mean?
Each line narrows the delivery from a province to a single household. The barangay and the ZIP-plus-province line do most of the routing work.
| Line | What it contains | Example | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recipient | Person or business receiving the item | Ms. Auria M. Franco | Yes |
| House / street | House or unit number, building, street, subdivision | 75 P. Domingo St. | Yes |
| Barangay + city | Barangay, then city or municipality | Carmona, Makati | Yes |
| ZIP + province | Four-digit ZIP code, then province or Metro Manila | 1207 METRO MANILA | Yes |
| Country | Destination country for international mail | PHILIPPINES | Yes, from abroad |
The line that surprises most US senders is the barangay. There’s no US equivalent: it’s the smallest unit of local government, and within a large city many street and building names repeat, so the barangay is often what puts a parcel on the right delivery route.
How does the Philippine ZIP code work?
A Philippine ZIP code has four digits. In PHLPost’s coding method, using 1008 as the example:
- The first digit identifies the postal zone.
- The second digit identifies the province, district or city.
- The last two digits identify the municipality or delivery office.
Codes in the 1000s cover Metro Manila, and the numbers climb outward through Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao: Cebu City is 6000 and Davao City is 8000. A large city can have several ZIP codes, one per district or delivery office, so Quezon City and Makati each span a range rather than a single code. Because the ZIP resolves only to a delivery office, the barangay and street lines carry the rest of the routing.
How do you write a Metro Manila address?
For the National Capital Region, “METRO MANILA” takes the place of the province on the ZIP line, and the city moves up to the line with the barangay. PHLPost’s examples show both a street address and a P.O. box:
Ms. Auria M. Franco
75 P. Domingo St., Carmona, Makati
1207 METRO MANILA
PHILIPPINES
Mr. Juan C. Masipag
P.O. Box 1121, Araneta Center P.O.
1135 Quezon City, METRO MANILA
PHILIPPINES
Addresses in the city of Manila itself end with the ZIP code and MANILA, as in “1008 MANILA.” Condo and office addresses put the unit and building first, for example “Unit 1203, Ayala Tower One, Ayala Avenue,” on the street line above the barangay.
How do you address a parcel to the Philippines from the United States?
Shipping from the US adds one rule to everything above: the last line must be the destination country in English capitals, PHILIPPINES. USPS and UPS route outbound parcels by the country first, so a missing country line is the fastest way to have a package held or returned.
Online label forms split the address into fields, so map each line like this:
- Address line 1: house or unit number, building and street (for example 75 P. Domingo St.)
- Address line 2: subdivision or village and barangay (for example Barangay Carmona)
- City: the city or municipality (Makati)
- Province or state: the province, or Metro Manila
- Postal code: the four-digit ZIP code (1207)
- Country: Philippines
Add the recipient’s mobile number and email in the contact fields, since couriers and customs use them for delivery and clearance notices. For the customs side of a Philippine parcel, including the CN22 or CN23 declaration and duty rules, see our international shipping guide to rates, carriers, customs and destinations, and the Philippines shipping guide for USPS and UPS service details.
What are the most common Philippines address mistakes?
Most delayed deliveries trace back to a short list of formatting errors:
- Omitting the barangay. In a city with repeating street names, it’s the line that tells the delivery office where to go.
- Treating a city as a province. Quezon City and Makati are cities inside Metro Manila, not provinces.
- Writing a five-digit ZIP. Philippine ZIP codes have four digits.
- Putting the ZIP code after the province. PHLPost places it to the left: “2000 PAMPANGA,” not “PAMPANGA 2000.”
- Leaving out the subdivision or sitio. Rural addresses may include a sitio or purok, and residential ones a subdivision with block and lot numbers (Blk 5 Lot 12). Keep them along with the barangay.
- Forgetting PHILIPPINES on mail sent from abroad.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a barangay, and does it go in a Philippine address?
A barangay is the smallest unit of local government in the Philippines, a district within a city or municipality. Yes, it belongs in the address: it goes on the line before the city, as in “Del Pilar, San Fernando,” and it often distinguishes neighborhoods where street and building names repeat. Leaving it out is a leading cause of delays on mail from overseas.
Where does the ZIP code go in the Philippines address format?
The four-digit ZIP code goes at the start of the last local line, to the left of the province or city name, as in “2000 PAMPANGA” or “1207 METRO MANILA.” That’s PHLPost’s standard as published by the Universal Postal Union. On a US label with separate fields, enter it in the postal code box and the province in the state field.
How do you write a Metro Manila address?
Write METRO MANILA where a province would go, after the ZIP code, and put the city on the line above with the barangay. PHLPost’s example is “75 P. Domingo St., Carmona, Makati” followed by “1207 METRO MANILA” and then PHILIPPINES. Addresses in the city of Manila itself end with the ZIP code and MANILA instead.
Do you write a Philippine address in English?
Yes. Philippine addresses are written in English with Latin characters, so no translation or transliteration is needed. Keep the lines left-aligned and put PHILIPPINES in capitals on the final line when you mail from the United States, because USPS and UPS sort international parcels by the country line first.
Sources
- Universal Postal Union: Philippines postal addressing system (PHLPost)
- Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost)
- USPS International Mail Manual: Philippines
- Wikipedia: Postal addresses in the Philippines
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Part of our Shipping to the Philippines guide. Related: International Shipping hub · UK Address Format.
