Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 3731

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LAARNI LAVIN ROQUE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The 1987 Philippine Constitution in Section 13 of Article || mandates that:

"The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building
and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual,
and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and
nationalism and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs."

According to the latest Department of Education (DepEd) report, 50% of the
population, or roughly 55 million Filipinos, are children and youth (0-24 yrs.) The SPED
Division of the Department of Education estimates that 13% of the children and youth
population in the country, or around 7.15 million, have special needs; 2% are gifted
while 10% are those with disabilities.

Children and youth with special needs (CYSNs) continue to experience barriers
to access basic social services. This is compounded by poverty, lack of data, weak
governance and discriminatory attitudes related to disability in general. They are less
likely to attend school, access medical services, or have their voices heard in society.
Their disabilities also place them at a higher risk of physical abuse and discrimination,
and often exclude them from receiving proper nutrition or humanitarian assistance in
emergencies.

It is high time that State pay close attention and address the needs of our
CYSNs, as well as take the necessary steps to help to make them productive citizens

The purpose of this bill is to institutionalize a national screening program for
children with special needs and physical disabilities under the Department of Health
that focuses on the importance of the early identification of such conditions.

There is an abundance of research documenting the value of early
identification and intervention for children with special needs. Professionals in
psychological, medical, scientific, and educational fields are in agreement as to the
importance of the years between birth and the age of four for learning. If there is any
risk of disability, these early years become even more critical


Children with special needs who are not properly diagnosed and identified risk
missing some of the most important learning and developmental milestones. Early
intervention helps keep these children on a path to making the most of abilities and
skills developed during the early years.

Early intervention is forward looking, even into adulthood. It has been shown
that early intervention therapies do far more than provide for immediate benefits
during the developmental years. They significantly increase the child's ability to
integrate in future social environments, including schools, communities, and
ultimately places of employment.

However, intervention can only be administered if there is proper screening
and identification of children with special needs first. Thus, the significance of
instituting a national screening program cannot be underscored enough especially for
the members of our population who do not have the financial means to seek
professional advice.

Given the above premises, the urgent passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

4th Disttict, Bukidnon


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Nineteenth Congress
First Regular Session

House BILL No. _3731

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LAARNI LAVIN ROQUE

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL SPECIAL NEEDS
SCREENING PROGRAM UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, 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 "National Special Needs
Screening Act".

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to protect
and advance the rights of children and youth with special needs (CYSN) by
formulating policies, creating programs, and implementing initiatives that will enable
the early detection of disabilities and special needs in children, thereby allowing for
earlier intervention, assistance and treatment, as well as the provision of special
education and healthcare for them

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

‘A. Children with special needs (CSNs) refer to those persons eighteen (18)
years old and below who are the gifted or are fast learners; and those who are
disabled, impaired and handicapped and in need of special education as well
as services for rehabilitation. They differ from the average children in mental
characteristics, sensory abilities, neuro-muscular or physical characteristics,
social attributes, to such an extent that requires the use of modified school
practices or special education services to develop them to maximum capability.

They may be classified as follows
1. Gifted children and fast leamers are those capable of superior

performance including those with demonstrated achievement or
potential ability in one or more of the following areas: general


intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive
thinking ability, leadership ability, ability in the performing arts and
psychomotor ability, or those individuals who consistently manifest the
following cluster of traits: above average ability (including intelligence),
high creativity (implies the developmental appreciation of innovative
ideas) and high task commitment (related to a high degree of
motivation) and those who by reason thereof, require services or
activities not ordinarily provided by the school;

2. Children with mental retardation intellectual disability are those
who have substantial limitation in present functioning characterized by
significant sub-average intellectual functioning, existing concurrently
with the related limitations in two or more of the applicable adaptive skill
areas; communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community
use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure and
work;

3. Children with visual impairment are those who are blind or having
a low vision. Persons are biind if they have a visual capacity of 20/200
or less in a better eye after maximum correction. The low vision persons
retain a relatively low degree of vision and can read only enlarged print
or regular print under special conditions;

4. Children with hearing impairment are those who are deaf of hard-
of-hearing, The deaf persons are one whose hearing are non-functional
for ordinary purpose in life. The hard-of-hearing have a defective sense
of hearing that is functional without a hearing aid;

5. Children with behavior problems are those who cannot adjust to
the socially accepted norms or behavior and, consequently disrupt their
academic progress, in the learning efforts of their classmates and
interpersonal relations;

6. Children with orthopedic/physical handicap are those whose
impairment permanently or temporarily interferes with the normal
functions of the joints, muscles or limbs;

7. _ Children with special health problems are those who have health
conditions that tend to keep children out-of-school or those with chronic
and/or debilitating illnesses such as cardiac (heart) diseases, asthma,
diabetes, tuberculosis and other respiratory ailments, carcinoma,
epilepsy, malnutrition and others;

8. Children with learning disabilities are those whose although
normal in sensory, emotional and intellectual abilities exhibit disorders
in perception, listening, thinking, reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic
They have such condition as perceptual handicaps, brain injury,
minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia;


9. Children with speech defects are those whose speech differs
from the average so far as to draw unfavorable attention to the manner
of speaking rather than to the thought conveyed, which include
communication disorders such as stuttering impaired articulation,
language impairment, or a voice impairment that adversely affects a
child's educational performance;

10. Children with autism are those with developmental disabilities,
the onset of which occurs before 30 months of age which is marked by
ance in development, language and relationship with persons,
s and objects and which may coexist with intellectual disability
and epilepsy. Children afflicted with this disorder have perceptual
cognitive communication and social difficulties which change over time;

11. Children with multi-handicaps are those with more than one
disability such as the deaf-blind or those diagnosed with autism and
intellectual disability.

12. Children with Specific learning Disability - A disorder in one or
more of the basic physiological processes involved in understanding or
in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in the
imperfect ability to listen/ think/speak/read, write, spell or do
mathematical calculations. Such term includes conditions such as
perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia,
and developmental aphasia.

13. Children with Traumatic Brain Injury - An acquired injury to the
brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial
functional disability or psychosocial impairment or both, and that
adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to
open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more
areas, such as cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning,
abstract thinking, judgment, problem solving, sensory, perceptual and
motor abilities, psychosocial behavior physical functions, information
processing, and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that
are congenital or degenerative or to brain injuries induced by birth
trauma.

SEC. 4. Establishment of National Special Needs Screening Program. — A
National Special Needs Screening Program (NSNSP) is hereby established under the
Department of Health (DOH) which is primarily intended to screen children between
two (2) to four (4) years of age for any physical disability, impairment or special need.

SEC. 5. Program Objectives. — The objectives of the NSNSP are:

(ay

To conduct a simple special needs screening test on children between
two (2) to four (4) years of age through health care workers and
practitioners to identify children with physical disabilities, impairments
or special needs;


(b) To provide immediate attention to identified children with physical
disabilities, impairments or special needs and create a referral system
so that they may be evaluated further and treated by special needs
specialists;

(c) To develop a special needs screening results database for all children
nationwide; and;

(d) To conduct continuing research on improving the methodology and
implementation of early detection of special needs among children
nationwide.

SEC. 6. Special Needs Screening Kit. — The DOH, with the cooperation of the
National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), shall create a Special Needs Screening
Kit which shall be formulated through extensive consultation with specialists, experts
and academicians in the field of Special Education. The Special Needs Screening Kit
shall take into consideration the natural gradual development of the child and shall
incorporate practical tests and assessments that the health worker or practitioner in
the field may administer. Such tests and assessments shall include an age-
appropriate developmental achievement checklist and shall be simple enough to
guide the administrator to make a fairly accurate decision in endorsing identified
children for further evaluation of licensed special needs experts.

SEC. 7. Program Implementation. - In the implementation of the NSNSP, the DOH,
in coordination with the NCDA, shall

(a) Administer the special needs screening program to all children between
two (2) to four (4) years of age using a Special Needs Screening Kit;

(b) Train and certify health workers and practitioners in conducting a
special needs screening program:

(c) Develop a system of referral and corrective measures for children who
are suspected or diagnosed to have possible special needs;

(@) Create a Special Needs screening database containing the results of
the screening per child diagnosed by the practitioners; and

(e) Monitor and evaluate the implementation of the NSNSP.

SEC. 8. PhilHealth's Benefit Package. — The Philippine Health insurance
Corporation (PhilHealth) shall develop a benefit package for the consultation and
treatment of Children with Special Needs.

SEC. 9. Special Needs Screening Training. — The DOH shall be mainly responsible
for the training of Special Needs Screening Trainers for purposes of quality
assurance.

SEC. 10. Research. — The DOH and the NCDA shail conduct research and provide
evidence-based recommendations pertaining to the NSNSP. Furthermore, they shall
perform continuing research on childhood related Special Needs.

SEC. 11. The Special Needs Screening Continuing Research Fund. — There is
hereby created a Special Needs Screening Continuing Research (SNSCR) Fund to
be sourced from any donation or bequest made to the DOH in favor of the NSNSP.


The SNSCR Fund shall be used to fund the continuing research program of the DOH
on childhood related Special Needs.

SEC. 12. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to cover the implementation of this
Act shall be included in the budgets of the DOH and the NCDA in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

SEC. 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the DOH, in consultation with the NCDA, shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions thereof.

SEC. 14. Separability Clause. - if any provision or section of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the other
provisions or sections thereof.

SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. — Alll laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or
parts thereof inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed, amended
or modified accordingly

SEC. 16. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,