Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS.
First Regular Session

WES)
House BillNo.__0

INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMAN PEDRO P. ROMUALDO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

It has been fourteen (14) years since the passage of Republic Act No. 8047
entitled “An Act Providing For the Development Of The Publishing Industry
Through The Formulation And Implementation Of A National Book Policy And A
National Book Development Plan”.

‘Through the years, the public has been clamoring for good quality books for our
elementary and secondary schools especially for the public school system. Many
issues have cropped up during the past years attributed to poor editing, poor
quality content of instructional materials and misprinting of books. It has been
seen by industry stakeholders from the academe, publishing, printing and the
public in general as a failure to implement stricter policies to avoid this
repetitious problem in our educational system.

The amendments being introduced here is to provide the Department of
Education the primary responsibility to commission the development of
textbooks and instructional materials to duly accredited government and private
institutions with technical expertise and capability on particular subject areas to
ensure that we will have better content quality textbooks and instructional
materials for elementary and secondary public schools which are comparable
with the private elementary and secondary schools.

Certain standards and competencies must be observed by publishers and
institutions commissioned by the Department of Education in developing those
syllabi, manuscripts and other instructional materials which must pass through
appropriate testing, evaluation, selection and approval.

For better transparency and for the information of the public, the Department of
Education shall post in its website the list of registered publishers and other
industry allied services with transactions with the Department, National Book
Development Board or with the Instructional Materials Council Secretariat. It
shall also indicate the type of service being offered, status of contract being
undertaken or have already implemented with these agencies, company officers,
complete office address and important contact details.


It is hoped that through these amendments, the Department of Education can
fulfill its mandate and protect the greater interest of the public. It is their
prime duty to inculcate better values, enlighten the minds of the students
through the use of visual aids, relevant instructional materials and hands-on
application of basic theories and principles to ensure that we will have quality
and competent graduates in the elementary and secondary public schools.

Your support for the early approval of this bill is earnestly requestdd.

PEDRO P. ROMUALDO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

First Regular Session

House Bill’ No. 579

INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMAN PEDRO P. ROMUALDO

AN ACT
AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8047 ENTITLED “AN
ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOOK PUBLISHING
INDUSTRY THROUGH THE FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A
NATIONAL BOOK POLICY AND A NATIONAL BOOK DEVELOPMENT PLAN”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section10 of Republic Act No. 8047 is hereby amended to read as
follows:

Section 10. Public School and Textbook Publishing. - The DECS shall
[consult] HAVE THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES:

a.
b.

c.

d. xxx
E. COMMISSIONING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS TO DULY ACCREDITED GOVERNMENT OR
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS WITH EXPERTISE ON CERTAIN SUBJECT AREAS.

The printing of public elementary and secondary school textbooks shall be
done on a regional or provincial level [, whenever economically feasible]
UPON FAVORABLE ASSESSMENT THAT ARE AVAILABLE AND DULY
ACCREDITED LOCAL. PRINTERS WHICH CAN MEET THE TECHNICAL
STANDARDS OF THE DEPARTMENT.

Xxx
Section 2. Section 11 of Republic Act No. 8047 is hereby amended to read as
follows:
Section 11. Participation of Private Publishers in the Public School Textbook

Program. — [Guided by the minimum learning competencies for the
elementary level, the desired learning competencies for the secondary level,


and other specifications prepared by the DECS, publishers shall develop and
submit to the DECS those syllabi and/or prototypes and manuscripts or books
intended for use in the public schools for testing, evaluation, selection and
approval.]

COMMISSIONED PUBLISHERS AND INSTITUTIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION SHALL SUBMIT THOSE SYLLABI AND/OR PROTOTYPES
AND MANUSCRIPTS OR BOOKS FOR USE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR
TESTING, EVALUATION, SELECTION AND APPROVAL USING AS GUIDES
THE PHILIPPINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEARNING COMPETENCIES
(PELC) FOR THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL AND THE CURRICULUM
STANDARDS (CS) FOR THE SECONDARY LEVEL AND SUCH OTHER
SPECIFICATIONS PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,

Section 3. Section 6 is hereby amended to read as follows?

Section. 6. Registration of Entities. - Persons and enterprises engaged in
book publishing and its related activities shall register with the National Book
Development Board.

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL POST IN ITS WEBSITE THE
LIST OF REGISTERED PUBLISHERS AND OTHER INDUSTRY ALLIED
SERVICES WITH TRANSACTIONS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION, THE NATIONAL BOOK DEVELOPMENT BOARD OR WITH THE
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COUNCIL SECRETARIAT. IT SHALL ALSO
INDICATE THE TYPE OF SERVICE BEING OFFERED, STATUS OF
CONTRACT BEING UNDERTAKEN OR HAVE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED
WITH THESE AGENCIES, COMPANY OFFICERS, COMPLETE OFFICE
ADDRESS AND IMPORTANT CONTACT DETAILS.

THIS LIST SHALL BE UPDATED REGULARLY AND SHALL BE PUBLISHED
IN AT LEAST ONE (1) NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION AND ONE
() REGIONAL-BASED NEWSPAPER FOR THE INFORMATION OF THE
PUBLIC.

Section 4. Insert a new Section to be read as the new Section 13 of Republic Act
No. 8047 to read as follows and the succeeding Sections be renumbered
accordingly:

SECTION 13. PERSONNEL OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
COUNCIL SECRETARIAT. - THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL
PROVIDE THE NECESSARY ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL PERSONNEL AT THE
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COUNCIL SECRETARIAT TO PERFROM
EDITORIAL FUNCTIONS NOT LIMITED TO REVIEWING, - EDITING,
PROOFREADING, RECOMMENDING APPROPRIATE ILLUSTRATIONS,
CHECKING THE BOOK DESIGN AND LAYOUT PRIOR TO MASS PRINTING.
THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS TECHNICAL PERSONNEL SHALL ALSO
BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TOGETHER WITH THE AUTHORS AND
EVALUATORS AS TO THE CONTENT QUALITY OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS.


THE SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF THE ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL
PERSONNEL SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE ANNUAL BUDGET OF THE
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COUNCIL SECRETARIAT.

Section 5. Separability Clause. — If any part or section of this Act is declared
unconstitutional for any reason whatsoever such declaration shall not in any way
affect other parts or sections of this Act.

Section 6. Repealing clause, — All other laws, decrees, executive orders, rules
and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
hereby modified, amended or repealed.

Section 7. Jmplementing rules and regulations. ~ The Department of
Education, the Instructional Materials Council Secretariat and National Book
Development Board shall draft the implementing rules and regulations to
implement this Act in consultation with various industry stakeholders not limited
to duly recognized publishing and printing groups.

Section 8. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect upon its publication in two
(2) major daily newspapers of national circulation.

Approved.