Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
Twentieth Congress 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 1349 
Introduced by Representative LORDAN G. SUAN 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS OF LIVING 
TRADITIONS FOR INDIGENOUS CULTURAL COMMUNITIES AS PART OF 
THE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The School of Living Traditions (SLT) is a program of the National 
Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) which started in 1995, to 
identify, preserve, promote, safeguard and transmit our country’s intangible 
cultural heritage. This flagship program consists of initiating and funding the 
establishment of community-managed cultural learning centers where 
cultural masters or practitioners transmit the knowledge, skills and crafts of 
their communities to the young generation. The method of teaching in SLT is 
non-formal, oral and based mainly on practical demonstrations. From a 
short program of 3-6 months, it developed into a five-year community 
development program in some communities. NCCA was also able to establish 
Schools of Living Traditions in the formal school system through the 
Department of Education. It is so valuable that in 2021, the United Nations 
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in its 16th 
Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of 
Intangible Cultural Heritage, inscribed Philippine SLT in its Register of Good 
Safeguarding Practices.  
The purpose of this Bill is to take this valued program to a permanent 
and sustainable level by institutionalizing it as part of the basic education 
system. As it is today, SLTs are short-lived and greatly dependent on the 
July 7, 2025
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support of the local government, the communities themselves and the 
private sector. The budget of the NCCA for this program is also limited. Most 
SLTs lack the incentive for indigenous children to take part in the program. 
Even the SLTs in formal schools are limited in terms of student reach. 
However, when they become DEPED schools following the basic education 
structure as primary and secondary schools, indigenous children will not 
only have their own schools but will be DEPED-recognized graduates of such 
schools qualified to pursue higher levels of education. Naturally, if it is a 
public-run institution, it enjoys the same stability and sustainability as our 
existing regular primary and secondary schools. 
In establishing an SLT in a cultural community, we are providing a safe 
and conducive space for learning, for indigenous children. We are fully 
aware that indigenous children suffer discrimination from children of the 
dominant culture. They are forced to accept cultural homogenization that 
not only eradicates their culture but also creates a negative connotation of 
their own, ascribing it to be backward and obsolete. The very first to suffer 
is their own language and the deep concepts and philosophies within that 
language. What we are trying to do is not to set them apart from others but 
to immerse them deeply in their own culture and develop a deep cultural 
root as they engage the dominant mainstream culture. This will strengthen 
their identity as a member of a cultural community and ensure the continuity 
of their culture.  
UNESCO states that there are two approaches to preserving cultural 
heritage: one is by transmitting it to the next generation and two is by 
recording and archiving it. This Bill gives us the opportunity of both through 
SLT and as a necessary consequence, through research, documentation, 
publication and development of teaching guides on the culture of our 
cultural communities. Eventually, we will be able to mainstream indigenous 
knowledge, skills and practices beyond mere promotion in competitions and 
festivals. 
In light of the preceding, this bill’s approval is fervently sought. 
LORDAN G. SUAN 
Cagayan de Oro City – 1st District 


Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
Twentieth Congress 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 1349 
Introduced by Representative LORDAN G. SUAN 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS OF LIVING 
TRADITIONS FOR INDIGENOUS CULTURAL COMMUNITIES AS PART OF 
THE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFOR 
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 “Schools of 
1 
Living Traditions Act of 2025.” 
2 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared policies of the 
3 
state: 
4 
a.) To conserve, promote, and popularize the nation’s historic and cultural 
5 
heritage and resources; 
6 
b.) To recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural 
7 
communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions, and 
8 
institutions; and 
9 
c.) To ensure equal access to cultural opportunities through the 
10 
educational system, public and private cultural entities, scholarships, 
11 
grants and other incentives. 
12 
In relation thereto, the state shall ensure that non-formal, informal, and 
13 
indigenous learning systems shall form parts of a complete, adequate, and 
14 
integrated system of education. 
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SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. For this Act, the following terms are 
1 
defined as follows: 
2 
a.) School of Living Traditions (SLT) – refers to a public or private 
3 
elementary or secondary school whose curriculum is an integration of 
4 
the core subjects in basic education and indigenous knowledge, skills 
5 
and practices. Its methods of teaching shall formal and non-formal.  
6 
b.) Master of Living Traditions – refers to a recognized cultural bearer, 
7 
expert or specialist of a particular Indigenous Cultural Community. 
8 
He/She must possess knowledge, skills and techniques on customs, 
9 
language, traditions, philosophies, spirituality, arts and crafts of the 
10 
cultural community. 
11 
c.) Indigenous Cultural Communities – refer to groups of people or 
12 
homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by 
13 
others, who have continuously lived as organized communities on 
14 
communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under 
15 
claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and 
16 
utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language, customs, 
17 
traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through 
18 
resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-
19 
indigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated 
20 
from the majority of Filipinos (Republic Act No. 8371).  
21 
SECTION 4. Establishment of Schools of Living Traditions.  The School of 
22 
Living Traditions (SLT) shall be established in identified and recognized 
23 
homogenous indigenous cultural communities in the country. It shall be 
24 
under the direct supervision of the Department of Education (DepEd). 
25 
SECTION 5. Objectives of SLT. The SLT shall be established to: 
26 
a.) Safeguard and preserve traditional and cultural knowledge and 
27 
practices; 
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b.) Transmit cultural knowledge, traditions, and skills to succeeding 
29 
generations; 
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c.) Preserve cultural identity and integrity; 
31 
d.) Identify, document, research and promote intangible cultural heritage 
32 
through formal and non-formal methods of learning; 
33 
e.) Integrate formal education curricula with indigenous knowledge 
34 
systems and practices; 
35 
f.) Teach indigenous knowledge systems, skills, practices, crafts, 
36 
language, philosophies and spiritualities; 
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g.) Provide safe and conducive spaces of learning for indigenous children;  
1 
h.) Help indigenous children navigate mainstream culture while being 
2 
deeply rooted in their own culture; and 
3 
i.) Promote culture as an essential foundation for human development. 
4 
SECTION 6. Structure and Characteristics. The SLT shall be established as 
5 
a primary education SLT or a secondary education SLT, consistent with the 
6 
Philippine basic education structure. It shall be owned by the state or by a 
7 
private entity. Provided that, private SLTs shall be duly recognized and 
8 
accredited by the Department of Education. 
9 
An SLT shall be headed by a principal who has obtained a Graduate Diploma 
10 
in Cultural Education (GDCE) or a Graduate Diploma in Teaching the Arts 
11 
(GDTA) or its equivalent.  The teaching personnel shall be composed of 
12 
teachers who shall teach the regular subjects, and the Masters of Living 
13 
Traditions who will teach the Indigenous Knowledge, Skills and Practices.  
14 
Qualified teaching and non-teaching personnel must come from the same 
15 
Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC). If none is available, teaching and non-
16 
teaching personnel shall be employed provided that they shall undergo 
17 
cultural sensitivity training which shall be conducted by the National 
18 
Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 
19 
SECTION 7. Accreditation of Private SLT.  The DepEd, in coordination 
20 
and consultation with the NCCA and the National Commission on Indigenous 
21 
Peoples (NCIP), shall formulate a system of accreditation for private SLTs.  
22 
SECTION 8. Consent. An SLT whether public or private can only be 
23 
established through the written consent of the recognized leader or chieftain 
24 
of the ICC concerned, and shall be duly endorsed by the NCCA, NCIP, and the 
25 
Local Government Unit (LGU) which has jurisdiction over the area of 
26 
operation. 
27 
SECTION 9. Curriculum. The DepEd, NCCA, NCIP and the Master/s of 
28 
Living Traditions (MLT) of the ICC concerned shall formulate and develop a 
29 
curriculum for an SLT established for such ICC. Each curriculum shall be 
30 
different and distinct for every ICC. The curriculum shall be an integration of 
31 
the core curriculum of basic education and the Indigenous Knowledge, Skills, 
32 
and Practices through formal and non-formal methods of learning.  
33 
SECTION 10. Identification and Accreditation of Masters of Living 
34 
Traditions. The NCCA in consultation with the NCIP and elders of an ICC 
35 
concerned shall identify and accredit all Masters of Living Traditions who 
36 


 
 
can teach in the SLT. A qualified Master of Living Traditions identified and 
1 
accredited by the NCCA shall be duly endorsed to the DepEd. 
2 
SECTION 11. Remuneration of State-owned Teaching and Non-Teaching 
3 
Personnel. The Department of Budget and Management shall formulate a 
4 
system of remuneration for the Masters of Living Traditions. The rest of the 
5 
teaching and non-teaching personnel shall receive their remuneration based 
6 
on the existing Salary Standardization Law. 
7 
SECTION 12. Office of Indigenous Peoples’ Education. The Schools of 
8 
Living Traditions shall be under the Office of Indigenous Peoples’ Education 
9 
of the Department of Education.  
10 
SECTION 13. Appropriations. The amount necessary for the 
11 
implementation of this Act shall be taken from the current budget of the 
12 
Department of Education. Thereafter, the amount necessary for the 
13 
continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the Annual General 
14 
Appropriations Act. 
15 
SECTION 14. Rules and Regulations. Within sixty (60) days from the 
16 
effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education, National Commission on 
17 
Culture and the Arts, and National Commission of Indigenous Peoples in 
18 
coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and relevant 
19 
stakeholders shall formulate the necessary rules and regulations for its 
20 
effective implementation.  
21 
Section 15. Separability Clause. If any provision of this Act is declared 
22 
invalid or unconstitutional, the provisions not hereby affected shall remain 
23 
in full force and effect. 
24 
Section 16. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and 
25 
regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions 
26 
of this Act are repealed, amended or modified, accordingly. 
27 
Section 17. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from 
28 
the date of its publication in the Official Gazette or two (2) newspapers of 
29 
general circulation. 
30 
 
31 
Approved, 
32