THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Third Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 2, Section 13, provides: 
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. 
It is vitally important for school systems to ensure that their students understand, care 
about, and act upon ethical values, such as honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect for self 
and others. 
Schools adopting intentional comprehensive approaches to character education are 
developing moral and ethical values jn their students and promoting a more compassionate and 
responsible society. Students are less prone to violence and substance abuse, and are more 
community minded, and often more committed and successful academically when character 
education programs have been implemented. 
An increasing number of schools and districts are taking steps to incorporate character 
education into their classrooms and school cultures. They need information on best practices, 
effective curricula, quality programs, criteria for assessing programs, and cost-effective 
opportunities to network nationally with each other, especially through electronic means. 
This bill seeks to establish a National Clearinghouse for Character Education. 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
7 
JJ;,] -4 i 1 5 1);. 
;) 
Third Regular Session 
) 
S E N A T E  
s.B.N~’. 2626 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO ES’I’ABL.lSI1 A NAI‘lONAl. Cl,I.?AKINGIIOUSE I’OK CIlARAC’L‘I 1R IDJCA‘l‘ION. 
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 hiown as the “Commitment to Kids and 
Character Act of 2007.” 
SECTION 2. DeJinition of Terms. - The following terms as used in this Act shall be 
defined as follows: 
(1) “Clearinghouse” refers to the National Clearinghouse for Character Education, as 
defined in Section 3 (b) of this Act; 
(2) “Organization” refers to the organization described in Section 30 (E) of the National 
Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines and exempt from tax under Section 30 of such Code; 
(3) “Secretary” refers to the Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd). 
SECTION 3. Establishment. 
(a) Grant - The Secretary is authorized to provide a grant to an organization, which has: 
(1) demonstrated expertise on a National level in providing comprehensive and 
objective information services and assistance regarding character education policies, 
programs, models of curricula, research and assessment; 
(2) a membership representative of individuals and groups committed to 
providing character education; and 


(3) demonstrated a commitment to furthering the implementation of quality 
practices in the implementation of character education programs. 
(b) Establishment of Center - The Organization shall establish and support the operation 
of a National Clearinghouse for Character Education to synthesize and disseminate information 
about character education and related programs. The Organization, through the clearinghouse, 
shall develop programs that incorporate the following elements of character: 
(1) Caring. 
(2) Civic virtue and citizenship. 
(3) Justice and fairness. 
(4) Respect. 
(5) Responsibility. 
(6) Honesty. 
(7) Any other elements considered appropriate by the Organization. 
SECTION 4. Functions. - The Organization, through the Clearinghouse, shall: 
(1) develop a searchable database that contains background and contact information on 
the leading character education groups, curricula, books, programs, and videos; 
(2) make available information on best practices; 
(3) make available models of professional development in character education; 
(4) make available research findings on the effectiveness of various approaches and 
programs; 
(5) make available information on available assessment tools and instruments; 
(6) make available information on leading character education groups nationally and the 
services they provide; 
(7) collect and make available information regarding how character education can be 
integrated into national content and performance standards for the various academic subjects and 
hcorporated in other educational reform efforts; 
(8) make available a checklist of criteria for users to assess the appropriateness of 
particular character education curricula to their needs; 


(9) provide a network of government-sponsored websites on character education; 
(10) make available any other information that may be helpful to character educators in 
implementing programs; and 
(1 1) provide telephone assistance. 
SECTION 5. Report. - The Organization shall submit to the Secretary an annual report 
that: 
(1) specifies the number of people who request information from the Clearinghouse and 
the types of information requested; and 
(2) identifies unmet and future information needs in the field of character education. 
SECTION 6. Appropriations. - Such sums as may be necessary for the initial 
implementation of this Act shall be taken from the current appropriations of the Department of 
Education (DepEd). Thereafter, the fund necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act shall 
be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
' SECTION 9. Eflectectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
FLDP/1/6/07