-EPRE,
Kee SEN

Republic of the Philippines jy Zn
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ’ RECEIVED = *

Batasan Hills, Ci SATE: ‘

jatasan Hills, Quezon City (3 BATE:FEB 03 mei-

(ie TIME:_62 97 vl
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS Xz BY: 4
Second Regular Session <5 /

HOUSE BILL No. Bez

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANLT. ZARATE,.
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE I. ELAGO

AN ACT
THE IN IN OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY AS A SUBJECT
IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM

EXPLANATORY NOTE

In 2014, as part of the so-called “education reforms” under the K to 12 program,
the Department of Education (DepEd) through DepEd Order 20 removed Philippine
History from the curriculum of high school students. Even as the agency provided no
pedagogical basis for the move, its Secretary Leonor Briones admitted that government
through her office erased Philippine History from the lessons of high school students,
claiming that “discussions of events in Philippine history are naturally integrated in
several subjects.”

Teachers, Philippine historians, and sociologists noted thatthe new curriculum
for Social Studies—which expects students to master a broad range of subjects such as
Asian studies and world history, as well as economics, culture, society, and politics, to
name a few—is patterned after topics created by the United States National Council for
Social Studies. Philippine history being pushed off the table, then, is to be expected.

The result; Students learn Philippine History at age 11 to 12 years old, nothing
else is taught thereafter until seven years later, when they enter college. For those who
do not go to college or enrol in technical and vocational schools, what they heard in
elementary school about Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, and the rest of the country’s
heroes, about Spanish, American’ and Japanese colonial periods, or about martial Iaw


and contemporary events, were the last things of Philippine History they will ever
formally learn.

In 2020, DepEd through its so-called Minimum Learning Competencies further
reinforced the horrific sin of erasing Philippine History from the high school curriculum.
As several educators and historians note, the new curriculum guide for Araling
Panlipunan in Grades 7 to 12 does not mention—not even just once—Pilipinas,”
“Kasaysayan,” or “Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas.” And obvious from the text of the MELC,
including its predecessor curriculum guides’, and from actual practice, there is no
“natural integration” of Philippine History in Asian History, World History, Economics,
and Contemporary Issues (taught in Grades 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively), especially
considering the too-short hours allotted for these subjects and the broad range of topics
and competencies therein.

This curriculum change is a far cry from the nationalistic stance being taken by
other countries which require their countries’ histories as a separate subject in all levels.
Japanese history is a mandatory subject in both junior and senior high school, with
Grade 9 and Grade 12 students even being required to take “travelling classes”
(idoukyoushitsu) to historically significant places in some prefectures. In Australia,
history is taught as a stand-alone, compulsory subject in Years 7 to 10 (ages 13 to 16)
and is organised into two interrelated strands: historical knowledge and understanding
(substantive knowledge) and historical inquiry and skills (procedural knowledge). Key
Stage 3 students (11 to 14 year-olds) in England’s maintained schools are expected to
build up their knowledge from Key Stages | and-2 (elementary levels)to develop further
consciousness of the significance of events, people, and developments in their historical
context and in the present day, and the different interpretations by historians and the
reasons therefor and how to assess their validity, among others.

‘According to Alyansa ng mga Tagapagtanggol ng Kasaysayan or Tanggol
Kasaysayan, the absence of Philippine History in the high school curriculum has created
an expansive abyss between history as told in textbooks and analysis of primary source.
This abyss needs to bridged by bringing back Philippine History as a standalone subject
in high school. History in elementary school relies and focuses on basic facts and
civics—for instance, Jose Rizal as a model citizen. Junior and senior high school
students must be exposed to different secondary sources, and their study must focus on
the critical evaluation of secondary sources and media—for instance, “How is the
depiction of Rizal in this journal article different from the depiction of Rizal in that
movie? Why?”

The lingering, destructive effects of the absence of Philippine History in the high
school curriculum must be stressed, especially in this era where history is easily
rewritten and efforts at historical revisionism and deletion come from all sources (even
from government officials and agencies). Filipino children and youth drown in fake
news, misinformation, and disinformation by the mere exposure to social media and
even traditional media. This goes beyond a problem of a youth asking why Apolinario
Mabini was sitting down all throughout a movie, The problem is as profound as the


fact that we are becoming a nation that has forgotten who Apolinario Mabini was—not
that he was a polio victim, not even as a lawyer. We are turning into a country that has
forgotten his importance to the nation, despite being both polio victim and lawyer, as
the “Utak ng Himagsikan.”

Indeed, erasing Philippine History in the high school curriculum amounts to a
deliberate effort to make Filipinos forget the lessons of the past and our hallmarks and
pride as a people and nation, and to render us greatly vulnerable to modem agents of
colonization and oppression, at the hands of imperialist powers or another Marcos.
There is therefore an urgent necessity to correct this error, to put Philippine History back
not jut in the blackboards but in the consciousness of the Filipino child and youth.

Approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

ae

Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO

ACT Teachers Party-List
Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE Rep. FERDINAND GAITE
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List
Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS.

BAYAN MUNA Party-List GABRIELA Women’ Party



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8621

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE I. ELAGO

AN ACT
MANDATING THE INCLUS! F PHILIPPINE HISTORY AS A SUBJECT
IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM

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

SECTION 1. The Department of Education is hereby mandated to include the study
of Philippine History as a subject in the curriculum of junior and senior high school.

SECTION 2. In the performance of this mandate, including in the implementation of
the preceding Section, the Department shall bear in mind the following objectives:

(1) To inculcate among junior and senior high school students the sense of
nationalism and patriotism as embodied by Philippine heroes, important events, and in
liberation movements and revolutions;

(2) To emphasize at necessary points particulars such as local history, national
minorities, and women;

(3) To expose students to different secondary sources on Philippine history, such
as biographies, interpretive and analytical texts, and journals, and spur students’ critical
evaluation thereof; and

(4) To enable critical thinking and discourse on the efects and relevance of
Philippine historical events, persons, and movements to the present.


SECTION 3. Within sixty days from the approval of this Act, the Department shall, in
consultation with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, teachers,
historians, and other stakeholders, promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to
implement this Act: The Department shall likewise, also-upon consultation with the
abovementioned, prepare the textbooks and instructional materials for the teaching of
Philippine History.

SECTION 4. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, other issuances, or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SECTION 5. If any portion or provisions of this Act is declared void and
unconstitutional, the remaining portions or provisions hereof shall not be affected by

such declaration.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,