Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Philippines

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS,

First Regular Session

House BiLLNo,_ 207
Introduced by Representative “KUYA’ JOSE ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO

AN ACT
TO RECRUIT, HIRE, AND TRAIN ADDITIONAL SCHOOL-BASED GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS AND MENTAL
HEALTH PERSONNEL

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to Méentalhealth.gov, mental health includes emotional,
psychological, and social well-being. It affects how an individual think, feel, act and
interact with his fellow being. Most educational institution often focus on academic or
curricular development but fails to provide adequate mental health services that will

“improve the intellectual and emotional aspect of the child. There are limited number of
counselling professional, school counsellor psychologist and social workers deployed
in academic institutions.

The purpose of this bill is to employ and train school-based counsellor and mental
health personnel and professional in order to address the need of the students in their
mental and emotional needs.

The immediate approval of this bill earnestly sought.

J fo

“KUYA” JOSE ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO
Representative
First District of Bulacan


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Philippines

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
2075
i HOUSE BILL NO,
__Introduced by Representative “KUYA” JOSE ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO _

AN ACT
TO RECRUIT, HIRE, AND TRAIN ADDITIONAL SCHOOL-BASED
GUIDANCE COUNSELORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, SCHOOL SOCIAL
WORKERS AND MENTAL HEALTH PERSONNEL

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Students' Guidance
Counseling Act.

SEC 2. Purposes. - The purposes of this Act are to:

(1) Help elementary and secondary institutions to recruit, train, and hire
additional school-based mental health personnel, counselors, social workers, and
school psychologists;

(2) Help adequately address the mental, emotional, and developmental
needs of elementary and secondary school students;

(3) Remove the emotional, behavioral, and psycho-social barriers to
learning so as to enhance the classroom preparedness and ability to learn of
students;

(4) Support school staff and teachers in improving classroom
management, conducting behavioral interventions to improve school discipline,
and developing the awareness and skills to identify early warning signs of
violence and the need for mental health services; and,

(5) support parents in improving the school behavior and academic
success of their children.

SEC 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act —

(1) "Mental Health and Student Service Provider" includes a qualified
school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker.

(2) "Mental Health and Student Services" includes direct, individual, and
group services provided to students, parents, and school personnel by mental
health and student service providers, or the coordination of prevention strategies
in schools or community-based programs. "School Counselor” refers to an


individual who has documented competence in counseling children and
adolescents in a school setting and who:

(A) Possesses licensure or certification granted by a professional
regulatory authority;

(B) In the absence of such licensure or certification, possesses
national certification in school counseling or a specialty of counseling
granted by an independent professional organization; or,

(C) Holds a minimum master's degree in school counseling

(3) “School Psychologist” refers to an individual who possesses a
minimum of sixty (60) graduate semester hours in school psychology from an
institution of higher education and has completed one thousand two hundred
(1,200) clock hours in a supervised school psychology internship, of which six
hundred (600) hours shall be in the school setting; “School Social Worker” refers
to an individual who holds a master's degree in social work. Additional school-
based counselors, psychologists and social workers. - The Secretary of Education
shall, subject to existing rules and regulations of the Department of Education,
the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management,
provide for hiring of additional school based counselors, psychologisis and social
workers such that each public elementary and secondary school will have at least
three (3) counselors, one (1) psychologist, one (1) social worker, and other mental
health and students service providers when the need arises.

SEC 5. Guidelines. — The Secretary of Education shall, one hundred twenty (120)
days after the enactment of this Act, issue the necessary guidelines in the selection,
recruitment and hiring of personnel and the nature and scope of the mental health and
services to be offered to students.

SEC 6. Appropriations. ~ There shall be appropriated from the National Treasury
such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall
remain valid and subsisting,

SEC 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby modified or amended accordingly

SEC 7. Effectivjtf. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least4wo (2) newspapers of general circulation.

I
Approved,
VE