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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

8981

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The State, under Article II, Section 24 of the 1987 Constitution,
“recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nation-
building.” Meanwhile, under Section 17 of the same Article, the State vows
to prioritize education and science and technology, “to foster patriotism and
nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation
and development.” Connecting these two provisions is Article XIII, Section
2(1), under which the State is mandated to “{elstablish, maintain, and
support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant
to the needs of the people and society.”

One application of this is the attention given to deepening our
understanding of the different types of literacy that we have to help our
students develop:!

Per Literacy Statistics, Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media
Survey (FLEMMS) of 2013, 96.5 percent of Filipinos were literate, an
improvement from 95.6 percent in 2008. Almost all Filipinos ten years old
and above were basically literate, while nine out of ten Filipinos 10 to 64 years
of age were functionally literate. At least in terms of reading, writing and
comprehending, Filipinos have come-a long way. But-as we may-all-know, we
are in an era of rapid change. The age of Web 2.0 continues to thrive and
Filipinos have embraced it wholeheartedly. We know that we have been once
called the social media capital of the world, with every study on the matter
ranking the Philippines as among the top countries spending the most hours
on social media platforms.

As these advancements widen their reach on our soil, the dangers they entail
also spread like wildfire, and their worst target is the youth. According to the
DQ Institute, an average Filipino child now spends 34 hours in front of digital
screens every week, two hours higher than the global average of 32 hours.
While this happens, 73 percent of our children are exposed to cyber-bullying,
inappropriate active searches, gaming addiction, mecting strangers online,
online sexual content, inappropriate adult images and inappropriate sexual

1 PIA, “Literacy in the age of social media,” October 10, 2018, available at
https: //pia.gov.ph/news/articles/ 1013738.


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talking. Filipino children have become increasingly vulnerable online and
such problem requires us to know more about what we're dealing with. There
is a need to spread a new kind of literacy.

Enter the establishment of Media and Information Education as a

necessary component of our primary and secondary curricula:?

Media literacy, declares the National Association for Media Literacy Education
(NAMLE), “represents a necessary, inevitable, and realistic response
(underscoring ours) to the complex, ever-changing” electronic and
communication environment that has become part of the lives of millions all
over the planet.

Responsible citizenship requires citizens in a democracy not only to access
but also to understand and to be critical of the billions of words, bytes and
images—the totality of information—that the media disseminate daily
through print, broadcast, moving pictures, and the Internet. The interactivity
made possible by the new electronic media has made this an even more
crucial imperative not only for responsible citizenship and responsible
‘communication, but also for the development of every human being in society.

“Today’s information and entertainment technologies,” continues NAMLE,
“communicate to us through a powerful combination of words, images, and
sounds. As such, we need to develop a wider set of literacy skills helping us
to both comprehend the messages we receive and effectively utilize these tools
to design and distribute our own messages.”

Being media literate thus “requires critical thinking skills that empower us as
we make decisions, whether in the classroom, the living room, the workplace,
the boardroom, or the voting booth.”

However, media literacy enables the individual not only to be critical of the
media but also to create messages appropriate to each medium. In the
Philippine context, media literacy is also a long-term solution to the many
problems and issues that afflict the Philippine media, in that a media literate
public aware of the role, values and standards of the media can demand that
the media adhere to their own standards as a necessary condition to
improving their capacity to provide the public the information it needs.

‘These standards the media themselves disseminate through codes of ethics
and professional guidelines with which media organizations encourage
compliance. These standards are meant to assure that media practitioners—
who today include ordinary citizens who access the Internet and its various
platforms of expression to make their views known on various matters
including issues and events of public concern—are able to provide accurate,
relevant, and fair reports, analysis and opinion to the billions of individuals
who read newspapers, listen to the radio, view television and motion pictures,
and access the Internet.

2 Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, “Why Media Literacy?,” available at

https:

‘cmfr-phil.org/media-literacy /what-is-media-

literacy/?_cf_chl_jschl_tk_=135143fb5a99b5473da3e05 1c737775f9ele7cc2-1600011205-
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This bill is offered as a way to give students a responsive and structured
way hone their Media and Information Literacy. This Bill aims to ensure that
all students in Grades 1 to 12 shall receive sufficient instruction in this field,
to equip them with the skills and understanding that they will need to (1)
protect themselves, their community, and by extension, the nation, from fake
news and (2) contribute to the enrichment of knowledgeable/informed
discussion online, especially on national issues, as responsible citizens.

It is for the foregoing premises that the approval of this Bill is earnestly
sought.

ALFRED S SANTOS.
Representative, Ang Probinsyano Party



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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No, 8981

Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos

AN ACT
MANDATING ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
SCHOOLS TO INCLUDE MEDIA AND INFORMATION EDUCATION,
INCLUDING THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE INTERNET, IN THEIR
CURRICULUM, FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Media and
Information Education Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to
broaden the understanding of its people of all forms of media and upheave
the capacity of its citizenry to identify reliable information from various media
platforms.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. -

a) Media. - The wife array of modern communications such as
television, cinema, video, radio, photography, advertising,
newspapers, magazines, recorded music, and the internet;

b) Media and Information Education. - Systemic instruction on the
right of every citizen to understand how media operates in societies,
to learn critical analysis and reflection on information presented by
the different forms of media, to information itself, and to practice
freedom of expression on or through various media platforms.°

iedia Education,” UNESCO, Paris, L’exprimeur-Paris, 2006,
co.org/ark: /48223 /pf0000149278.

3 Frau-Meigs, Divina,
https:/ /un-esdoc.une:



connects
ies around

¢) Internet. - An electronic communications network th
computer networks and organizational computer fa
the world.*

d) Social Media. - Forms of electronic communication through which
users create online communities to share information, ideas,
personal messages, and other content.>

SECTION 4. Coverage. - All students from grade level one (1) to grade
level twelve (12), from both public and private schools.

SECTION 5. Curriculum Development. - The Department of Education,
in close coordination with the Department of Information and
Communications Technology, and after thorough consultation with media
experts and practitioners, shall develop a module for the inclusion of Media
and Information Education and guidelines on the responsible use of the
internet in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools.

(b) The officials directly involved shall be liable for violations committed
by corporations, organizations, or similar entities.

The modules shall include the following topics, but should not be
limited to:

a) History and Development of Media;

b) Types and Forms of Media;

©} Critical Information Analysis;

d) Responsible Information Dissemination;

e) Understanding Technology and Social Media Security Systems; and

f) The Data Privacy Act, as well as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of
2012.

SECTION 6. Curriculum Review. - The Department of Education shall
review all existing curricula that already include media information education
and responsible use of the internet and amend the same, if necessary, to align
them with the provisions stated in this Act. Furthermore, all such curricula
shall cohere to Section 4 of this Act and shall be reviewed every two (2) years
to ensure their relevance.

SECTION 7. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the
implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General

Appropriations Act.

SECTION 8, Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act shall be
declared unconstitutional or invalid, such declaration shall not invalidate
other parts thereof which shall remain in full force and effect.

+ Federov, Alexander, “Media Literacy Education,” Information For All, Moscow, 2015,
https:/ /www.ifap.ru/library/book564.pdf.

5 Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 11" ed., Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 2004, s.v.
https: / /www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary /social%20media.



SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. — All laws, executive orders, presidential
decrees or issuances, letters of instruction, administrative orders, rules, and
regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation.

Approved,