Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No: _0320

Introduced by KABATAAN PARTY-LIST Representative Sarah Jane |. Elago,
ACT TEACHERS PARTY-LIST Representative France L. Castro,
BAYAN MUNA PARTY-LIST Representatives Carlos Isagani T. Zarate,
Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia C. Cullamat,
and GABRIELA WOMEN’S PARTY Representative Arlene D. Brosas

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article 11, 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 intemational 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 ther 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 Il, 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 USS 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 2025.

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 previous
congresses.


Approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

A

Rep CACGSNSREANT. ZARATE ‘ep. FI IAND GAITE
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List

Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT ep. ENE D. BROSAS
BAYAN MUNA Party-List GABRIELLA Women's Party



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

«= 0320
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by KABATAAN PARTY-LIST Representative Sarah Jane |. Elago,
ACT TEACHERS PARTY-LIST Representative France L. Castro,
BAYAN MUNA PARTY-LIST Representatives Carlos Isagani T. Zarate,
Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia C. Cullamat,
and GABRIELA WOMEN’S PARTY Representative Arlene D. Brosas

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- govemment 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.


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 provisions 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,