REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4338

House Bill No.

Introduced by Pangasinan Fifth District Representative
HON. RAMON V. GUICO LI

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Our great nation is no stranger to prodigies who come from a wide spectrum of exceptional skill
and ability. There is Ms. Sarah Fudolig, who in the age of 16, graduated summa cum laude in BS
Physics in the University of the Philippines. She is also a Fullbright Scholar in Economics at the
University of California-Irvine. TumTum Mendoza on the other hand, despite having been diagnosed
with autism at the age of 2, is considered a musical prodigy with his impeccable skill with the marimba.
Finally, Hamzah Marbella is considered as one of the world’s youngest art prodigies at just 12 years
old. These three are just a few names in the growing list of geniuses that the country will always be
proud of.

There are still, however, many Filipino children who are intellectually or potentially gifted that
are yet to be discovered and developed to their full potential; gifted Filipinos who may not have the
same privileges that the abovementioned persons had; children who, partly because of poverty and
partly because of the limited conception of gifted education here in the country, are equally deprived of
their constitutional right to quality education and the privilege to use their impeccable gifts to greatly

contribute to national development.

ifted education in the country is limited to special programs in science and mathematics, the
Headstart Program, and a gifted program in selected public high schools. Such education is also very
expensive, which is why it is mostly offered only by elite schools in selected cities. Clearly, this does
not sufficiently provide coverage to many others who may not have the means to access these programs
or is not included in the traditional definition of “giftedness.” Severely limited too are professional

organizations and advocates of gifted education here in the country.


There is therefore a need to thoroughly expand, empower, and enforce a revamped gifted
‘education program to provide for the equitable education of all our gifted children. Under this Act, the
Department of Education shall spearhead the formulation of a more inclusive gifted curriculum
program that is more responsive to the unique needs of the Filipino gifted. It shall develop essential
knowledge; values, and inter-disciplinary skills, including habits of minds that are necessary for the
holistic development and nurture of intellectually or potentially gifted children.

The full realization of the country’s aspirations relies on the full realization of the next
generation’s aptitude to address the increasingly complex problems of the modern world. It is our duty

to prepare them for it.

In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly sought.

\

Rep. Ramon V. Guico HII


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. a2s8

Tntroduced by Pangasinan Fifth District Representative
HON. RAMON V. GUICO II

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR THE FILIPINO GIFTED CHILDREN 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 Program for the Filipino
Gifted Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to recognize and
discharge its responsibilities to strengthen and actively promote the right of all citizens to quality
education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. In
pursuance thereto, the State shall develop the talents and skills of all gifted Filipino children, including
potentially gifted ones, through an education that is befitting of their intellectual prowess.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. ~ For purposes of this Act—

a. Acceleration refers to the educational placement strategy that allows a student to
progress through school at a faster rate than age peers;

b. Asynchrony refers to the uneven development of a highly to profoundly gifted
Jeamer in domains of development. Examples include, but are not limited to,
extremely high intelligence with normal emotional development; extremely high
Mathematics achievement with below average Language and Reading skills;
superior Abstract Reasoning and above average Quantitative Reasoning;

c. Gifted generalist refers to children from three (3) to eighteen (18) years old who has
an intelligence profile of about equal 1Q range across domains;

d. Gifted specialist refers to children from three (3) to eighteen (18) years old who has
aan intelligence profile with at least one domain in the gifted range with all other
domains in at least average range;


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¢. Intellectually Gifted refers to children from three (3) to eighteen (18) years old
possessing intellectual abilities of at least two (2) standard deviations higher than the
norm, as measured in two or more recognized intelligence tests, or at least an IQ of
130 as measured on a test with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, making
them belong to the top two (2) percent of the population in terms of intellectual
functioning;

£ Potentially Gifted refers to children from three (3) to eighteen (18) years old
manifesting more complex thinking processes than age peers, such as: willingness
and ability to learn at a higher level; creative problem solving; asking more complex
questions than answerable by facts; learning rapidly and efficiently; and superior
academic performance; and

g. Twice exceptional refers to children from three (3) to cighteen (18) years old
considered as intellectually or potentially gifted who have some form of disability.

SEC. 4. National Program for the Filipino Gifted. — The Department of Education (DepEd)
shall develop and implement a National Program for the Filipino Gifted (hereinafter referred to as the
“Program”) the contents of which, shall in general, aim to develop essential knowledge; values, and
inter-disciplinary skills, including habits of minds that are necessary for the holistic development and
nurture of intellectually or potentially gifted children. These shall be expressed in terms of relevant
learning outcomes, advanced contents, learner-centered and mentally engaging activities, and holistic
assessment tools that are relevant and responsive to the nature of intellectually or potentially gifted
Filipino students. Specifically, the program shall include the following:

a. Establishment of Schools for the Gifted throughout the country;
b. Development and implementation of special Programs in multiple disciplines, as the
Secretary of Education may determine, for gifted children with outstanding talents;
c. Development and Implementation of Differentiated Instruction Curriculum for
potentially gifted children;
d. Acceleration for highly gifted children, which includes:
1. Subject acceleration wherein students displaying asynchronous development
and considered as gifted specialists are promoted one or more years higher on
subjects in which they excel;
2. Grade-skipping wherein students displaying exceptional development in all
subjects and are considered as gifted generalists are promoted one year higher;
3. Early Entry wherein a child displaying academic and social readiness begins
school at a younger age than the average;
4. Telescoping wherein intellectually gifted children accomplish two (2) years’
worth of course material in a single year; and
5. Radical Acceleration wherein profoundly gifted students skip several grades
and are being subjected to several forms of acceleration; and


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¢. Establishment of a separate school and development of a distinct curriculum program
for intellectually or potentially gifled children in the indigenous communities taking into
account, the recognition and preservation of their respective customs and traditions.

The Secretary of Education shall likewise establish programs and projects for identifying and
serving intellectually or potentially gifted children, including innovative methods and strategies for
identifying and educating students who may not be served by traditional gifted and talented programs

SEC. 5. Student Assessment, - There shall be, at no cost to the parents, a full and individual
assessment of a child observed, identified, or referred by his/her parents, teachers, or other related
experts, as intellectually or potentially gifted. Provided, That, no such assessment shall be conducted to
the child without the informed consent of his/her parents. Provided further, That, if such assessment be
finally conducted, assessors shall not use any single procedure as sole criterion for determining whether
a child is intellectually or potentially gifted. Provided finally, That in the case of twice exceptional
children, assessors shall use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of
cognitive and behavioural factors, in addition to physical and developmental factors to the twice
exceptional child’s development.

SEC. 6. Individualized Fducation Plan. ~ Upon completion of the assessment procedure in
accordance with Section 5 of this Act, appropriate placement decisions in the Program for children
certified as intellectually or potentially gifted shall be made through a multi-disciplinary team
composed of the following:

Psychologist;

Educational diagnostician;

Teacher;

Administrator of special education, where appropriate;
Physician, if available;

Parents);

Student, where appropriate; and

Any other specialists who work with students,

Fe me aces

Such placement in the program shall be put into an individualized education plan, which is a
written statement for each child certified as intellectually or potentially gifted that is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with this Act and that includes:

a. A statement of the child’s present levels of education performance, including how the
child’s giftedness affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general curriculum;
b. A statement of measurable annual goals, including benchmarks or short-term
objectives, related to:
1, Meeting the child’s needs that result from the child’s giftedness to enable the
child to be involved in and progress in the Program; and


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2. Meeting each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s
gifledness;
c. A statement of:
1. How the child’s progress toward the annual goals described in Section 5 (b) of
this Act will be measured; and
2. How the child’s parents will be informed, by such means as periodic report
cards, at least as often as parents are informed of their other children’s progress,
oft
A. Their child’s progress toward the annual goals described in Section 5
(b); and
B. The extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable the child to
achieve the goals by the end of year.

Twice exceptional children shall also be included in the Program. In such cases, the following
shall be included in their individualized education plan:

a. A statement of the related special and supplementary aids and services to be provided
to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the Program modifications or
supports for school personnel that will be provided for the child:

1. To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals identified;

2. To be involved and progress in the Program and to participate in

extracurricular and other non-academic activities;

3. To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and non-

disabled children in the regular class and extracurricular activities; and

4. To avail of the Transition Program for Children with Special Needs.

SEC. 7. Least Restrictive Environments. — The Department of Education shall provide for the
placement of students in the program in least restrictive environments, which includes self-contained
classrooms, resource rooms, inclusive classrooms and any other such educational settings or facilities,
which the Secretary of Education may determine, that will provide for a non-threatening environment
for intellectually or potentially gifted children.

SEC. 8. Acquisition of Equipment and Construction or Alteration of Facilities. - If the
Secretary of Education determines that the implementation of the provisions of this Act would be
improved by permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate equipment, or to construct
new facilities or alter existing ones, the Secretary shall be authorized to allow the use of those funds for
such purposes.

SEC. 9, Advisory Council. ~ An advisory council is hereby created to provide expertise advice,
guidance, and insight for the effective implementation of this Act. The advisory council shall be
comprised of:


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a. Vice President for Academic Affairs or one of the Assistant Vice President for
Academic Affairs of the UP System;

b. Secretary of Education;

©. Secretary of Science and Technology;

d. Representative from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; and

€. One (1) private sector representative.

SEC. 10. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the implementation of this Act shall be
charged to the currently appropriated funding of the Department of Education. Thereafter, such sum as
may be needed for the effective implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act

SEC. 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~The Department of Education shall, within
ninety (90) days after the effectivity of this Act, issue the rules and regulations necessary for its
effective implementation.

SEC. 12. Separability Clause, — If any provision or part of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 13. Repealing Clause. ~ All laws, decrees, orders, proclamation, rules and regulations, or
parts thereof, which are inconsistent with any part of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or
modified accordingly.

SEC. 14. 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,