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REPUBLIC OF THE PHIL| PPINES AC CEIVE OD
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES gg SEP 2010

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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Sessio pees

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House Bill No.

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane I. Elago

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article Il, Section 11 of the Philippine Constitution declares that the State values the
dignity of every person and guarantees full respect for human rights. The principles and values
of human rights that are enshrined in the Philippine Constitution and international covenants,
however, are rendered hollow and meaningless when the citizens are not informed of their
rights and when human rights violations continue to occur.

The human rights situation in the Philippines took a serious beating after former
President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. But even after the fall of the dictatorship in
1986, human rights atrocities and violations continuously occurred, according to human rights
group Karapatan, victimizing thousands of Filipinos particularly those who are critical of the
government's economic policies and of the rampant corruption in the bureaucracy.

American historian Alfred McCoy reported that “military murder was the apex of a
pyramid of terror’ with 3,257 killed, 35,000 tortured, and 70,000 incarcerated. Many were
tortured, mutilated and dumped on the roadsides for public display to sow widespread fear.

The military devised different forms of torture to try to wring out information from
prisoners as recounted by countless victims of Martial Law. Women often experience worse
because aside from physical and mental torture, they are raped and sexually abused. Historian
Michael Charleston Chua detailed them in his book Tortyur: Human Rights Violations During the
Marcos Regime.

Human rights violations persisted in the subsequent regimes. Karapatan noted in its
2009 report that from the time former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the
presidency in 2001 up to October 2009, there is a total of 1,118 victims of extrajudicial killings
and 204 who have been forcibly disappeared and are still missing. Under former President
Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Ill, by yearend 2015, Karapatan recorded 307 cases of extrajudicial
killings, 566 cases of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 30 cases of enforced disappearances, and
215 cases of torture.


Even before President Rodrigo Duterte won in the May 9, 2016 elections, he has
repeatedly said that he will consent to the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ remains
at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery). Thirty years have passed since the fall of
the Marcos dictatorship and yet the atrocities and crimes sanctioned and committed by Marcos
and backed by the United States remain a dark chapter in the country's history. The Marcos
dictatorship violently suppressed political dissent, committed crimes against humanity,
plundered the country's resources, and perpetuated US imperialism’s stranglehold on the
nation. Marcos and his family never acknowledged these grave violations and have never
apologized to the Filipino people up to the present

Marcos’ 20-year rule from 1966 to 1986 plunged the economy into a spiraling crisis
weighed down by heavy foreign borrowings and decadent spending for the benefit of the
Marcos family and their cronies through what became notoriously known as “crony capitalism.”
By the time Marcos was ousted from power and fled the country during the People Power
uprising in 1986, the economy had a standing foreign debt of US$ 28 billion, trapping the
country into a cycle of ever-growing debts. According to research think tank IBON Foundation,
the foreign debts under Marcos alone will be shouldered by Filipino taxpayers until 2026.

The Marcos regime was also known for its widespread and systemic corruption and
plunder of the national coffers. It is estimated that as much as 33 percent of the country's total
borrowings during his term were pocketed by Marcos and his cronies. The Marcoses still face
numerous cases in court in relation to this amassed loot.

It was also during the Marcos regime that the Education Act of 1982 was passed, giving
schools greater freedom to decide on how much tuition they would charge the students. This
law served as the foundation for the deregulation and commercialization of education which
hinders youth and students from achieving their right to education.

‘A hero's burial for Marcos is a “travesty of history,” according to the Samahan ng Ex-
detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), a group of former Martial Law political
detainees. The group added that it is “a mockery of the horrors that the Filipino people endured
during the Martial Law era.”

Amidst this backdrop, there is a pressing and serious need for the government to
educate its citizens, especially the youth, on their civil, political, economic, social and cultural
rights. The role is stipulated in the Constitution, which specifically calls for all educational
institutions to “inculcate....respect for human rights” and in the mandate of the Commission on
Human Rights, which is tasked to “establish a continuing program of research, education, and
information to enhance respect for the primacy of human rights.” The fact that a number of
young people today want another Martial Law as a means to solve the worsening drug situation
means that human rights as a fundamental societal principle is not inculcated in the youth as
much.

At present, the subject "Human Rights" is being taught by Philippine schools only on a
voluntary basis. This bill seeks to make human rights subjects a mandatory part of the


curriculum of all educational institutions in the country. In the face of the country's human rights
situation, it is high time that the importance of human rights is inculcated in our youth.

In our commitment to human rights, we refile this bill from my predecessors:
Representatives Raymond Palatino and Terry Ridon. The passage of this bill is earnestly
sought



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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

3511

House Bill No.

Introduced by Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Jane I. Elago

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE MANDATORY STUDY OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CURRICULA IN
ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION

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 "Human Rights Education Act”

SECTION 2. Human Rights Education. — All public and private schools shall include in
their curricula courses, subjects and/or special lectures on human rights. No school shall be
established or allowed to operate unless this requirement is complied with.

SECTION 3. The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, in
consultation and close coordination with the Commission on Human Rights and various non-
government organization, advocacy groups and human rights organizations, shall formulate
courses, subjects and/or special lectures on human rights to be taught as separate courses or
incorporated in existing subjects now being taught in all levels of education throughout the
country

SECTION 4. The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education
shall consult and coordinate with the Commission on Human Rights and various non-
government organizations, advocacy groups and human rights organizations, in the writing,
printing, and publication of textbooks, manuals, and other reading materials to be used in the
human rights courses.

SECTION 5. This Act shall be implemented initially within the framework budget of the
Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and state universities and colleges
for the year it is enacted into law. As far as practicable, the funds required therefor shall be
drawn from its appropriations for policy formulation, program planning, standards development,
and instructional materials development.


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Thereafter, such amounts as may be necessary for the implementation of this Act shall
be included in the budget of the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education,
and state universities and colleges in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The Department of Education and
the Commission on Higher Education shall promulgate and issue the necessary implementing
rules and regulations within thirty (30) days after the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 7. Separability Clause. — If any provision or part thereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain
valid or subsisting,

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

SECTION 9. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation

Approved,