NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez 
House Bill No.  _____ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks to protect, promote, advance and develop the socio-economic well-
being, and career and professional development of the guidance counselors in the public 
schools and in the government service. 
It is a right of a student to avail the school guidance and counseling services for 
decisions and selecting the alternatives in fields of work suited to his potentialities. However, 
the guidance program is one very weak area in the Philippine public high schools and much 
worse in the elementary schools. On one hand, many schools do not have guidance 
services. On the other hand, some schools look for qualified guidance counselors. The 
Department of Education cannot provide schools with trained guidance counselors and more 
often the counselor-to-student ratio is too big for ideal counseling to take place.  
Numerous researches proved that Guidance and Counseling is important in the 
educational system. A lot of these responsibilities focus on helping at-risk learners, their 
families, even teachers and other stakeholders by giving them necessary support. Guidance 
counselors are faced with the challenge of providing one-on-one attention to every student 
with different needs.  
As the Guidance Service is neglected, so too its implementer, the Guidance 
Counselor. The Guidance Counselor is indispensable to the Guidance Program where 
he/she manages, implements and plans the different services.  
The Guidance Counselor is the primordial in the effective delivery of guidance and 
counseling programs and services as an integral part of all levels of the educational system, 
the curriculum and the community especially in the light of the implementation of RA 11036 
otherwise known as the Mental Health Act. In the said law, the Guidance Counselor is 
considered a Mental Health Professional. Moreover, Section 17 (Career Guidance and 
Counseling Programs) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10533, 
otherwise known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, stipulates that “students be 
properly guided towards becoming productive and contributing individuals through informed 
career choices”. This was further strengthened by RA 11206 otherwise known as the 
Secondary School Career Guidance and Counseling Act. Through the presence of the 
guidance and counseling programs and services in all levels of education, the students shall 
be able to achieve their RIGHT to avail themselves of these guidance services prescribed in 
BP Blg. 232, otherwise known as the Education Act of 1982. 
Ironically, though the Guidance Counselor is the career specialist yet s/he does not 
have a career in the current government set-up. 
On the other hand, the millennium has spawned many complex situations which 
resulted to emerging and reformatted social ills such as technological explosion, social 
media dependence and the current drug situation, among others. The above situations have 
caused all kinds of abuses (physical, psychological, sexual), teenage pregnancy, incidence 
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of HIV, suicide, confusion in values and even conflict with the law. We are alarmed of this 
situation. 
A licensed Guidance Counselor has a minimum educational attainment of a master’s 
degree; needs to attend professionalizing seminars or training at least once in a year; 
performs an arduous listening and empathizing coupled with the integration of different 
counseling techniques suitable to a specific client who may experience sexual abuse, verbal 
and physical abuse, bullying, incest, substance abuse, learning difficulties, adjustment with 
classmates and/or teachers, and many more; and, often times aside from its functions does 
unrelated work in schools such as the secretary of the principal, or a focal person of a 
program or worst, a contradictory role of a discipline officer.  
However, amidst of these everyday functions and qualifications, the guidance 
counselor in public schools is only appointed at Salary Grade 11 and may only prosper to 
Salary Grade 13 until his/her retirement. 
The importance of counseling to all who need it most cannot be understated. It is a 
skill, and counselors must try their best to maximize their potentials to address the needs of 
their counselees. Having this mind, the RA 9258 otherwise known as the Guidance and 
Counseling Act of 2004, a requirement for counselors to take the licensure examination to 
limit and professionalize the practice to those who are qualified, was implemented. Likewise, 
there is a need for more resources for the counselors to continuously enhance their practice.  
The professionalization of the guidance counseling through its law signifies the 
importance and the role of professional, skilled and equipped Guidance Counselors who will 
take charge of the school’s Guidance Program or an agency’s Guidance Program and/or 
Mental Health Program. 
However, we need also to protect, enhance and develop our human resource – the 
Guidance Counselors.  
In view thereof, the passage of this bill is earnestly requested. 
RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ 


NINETEENTH CONGRESS   
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez 
House Bill No.  _____ 
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MAGNA CARTA FOR PUBLIC COUNSELORS 
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 “Magna Carta for Public 
Counselors”. 
Section 2. Purposes. The purposes of this Act are to: 
(1)
promote and improve the professional, ethical, social, and economic well-
being of the public counselors, their living and working conditions and terms
of employment;
(2)
develop their skills and capabilities in order that they will be more responsive
and better equipped to deliver Guidance Program and Services, and Mental
Health Services;
(3)
encourage those with proper qualifications and excellent abilities to join and
remain in government service;
(4)
achieve the right of the students to avail the guidance and counseling
services in the schools prescribed in BP Blg 232 otherwise known as the
Education Act of 1982;
(5)
strengthen RA 11036 otherwise known as the Mental Health Act;
(6)
help the basic education institutions and other government agencies in the
formal, informal and alternative delivery modes to recruit, train, hire and
sustain the professional growth and career development of counselors;
(7)
help adequately address the mental, emotional and developmental needs of
the basic education learners, and clients;
(8)
remove the emotional, behavioral, and psycho-social barriers to learning so
as to enhance the classroom atmosphere in order to achieve a child-friendly,
gender-sensitive, safe, and motivating learning environment;
(9)
support school staff, teachers and administrators in improving classroom
management through the conduct of behavioral and other guidance related
interventions to improve the learner’s well-being, emotional and psycho-social
development, every day and career decision making and developing the
awareness and skills to identify early warning signs of mental health problems
and the need for guidance services including but not limited to those learners
identified as Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL), Students at Risk of
Dropping Out (SARDO), Learner-victims of VAWC and Child-Abuse, learner-
victims of criminal acts which affects their total well-being and those learner-
patients who are afflict of diseases that may affect their psycho-emotional
state;
(10)
prevent, promote, provide after care and support in the treatment of mental
health concerns of clients;
(11)
assist parents and other stakeholders in improving the learners school
behavior and academic success of their children;
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(12) 
sustain the development of reservoir of counselors through proactive and 
sustainable programs; and 
(13) 
provide the framework of guidance and counseling program and services for 
the general clients. 
 
Section 3. Definitions. – For purposes of this Act – 
 
(1) “Public Counselor” refers to an individual who has documented competence in 
implementing the Guidance Program that: 
a. possesses license or certification granted by the Professional Regulations 
Commission; 
b. holds a minimum master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling, 
Guidance, or Counseling without prejudice to those granted licenses 
under the Grandfather’s Clause of RA 9258 otherwise known as the 
Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004. 
c. uses of a variety of integrated approaches to the development of well-
functioning individual primarily by helping him/her to utilize his /her 
potentials to the fullest and plan his/her future in accordance with his/her 
abilities, interests and needs. 
d. generally employed in government schools and educational institutions 
but not limited to other offices owned and operated by the Government or 
its political subdivisions with original charters that engages in the delivery 
of mental health services. 
 
(2) “Guidance Program” refers to a system of services designed to improve the 
adjustment of each and every client. It includes counseling, career guidance, 
psychological testing, research, placement, referral, group processes, guidance, 
and mental health services. The Counselor primarily implements the Guidance 
Program. 
 
(3) “Guidance and Counseling” refers to the is a profession that involves the use 
of an integrated approach to the development of well-functioning individual 
primarily by helping him/her to utilize his /her potentials to the fullest and plan 
his/her future in accordance with his/her abilities, interests and needs.  
 
(4) “Counseling” refers to a dynamic face to face personal interaction between the 
counselor and the counselee/s, where the counselor employs various methods, 
approaches or techniques to enhance the counselee’s intrapersonal and 
interpersonal development and competencies.  
Counseling is synonymous to Guidance and Counseling and encompasses 
but not limited to career counseling, substance-abuse counseling, marital and 
family counseling, court-directed counseling, grief counseling, correctional and 
juvenile counseling, crises and disaster counseling among others. 
Counselors shall coordinate, refer and cooperate with other mental health 
professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists in dealing with clients in 
order for a better delivery of holistic intervention. 
 
Section 4. Hiring of Counselors. – The Civil Service Commission and the head of offices 
shall, subject to existing rules and regulations of the Department of Education, the 
Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education Skills Development Authority, the 
Civil Service Commission, Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment, 
Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Overseas Filipino Workers, 
Professional Regulations Commission, and the Department of Budget and Management, 
provide for hiring additional counselors such that: 


(1) 
each public elementary, secondary and learning centers, and vocational 
institutions shall have counselors with the ratio of one (1) School Counselor for 
every 500 students; 
(2) 
each State/Local Universities and Colleges shall have the ratio of one (1) 
School Counselor for every 750 students; and 
(3) 
each Public Employment Services Office in the Local Government Units shall 
be headed by a licensed Counselor; 
(4) 
each Counselor shall have a number of caseloads as determined by the 
respective Department where s/he is employed. 
 
The Department of Education shall establish a Bureau for the implementation of 
Guidance and Counseling and Mental Health in the Central Office. Additional Functional 
Divisions shall also be created in the Regional and Schools Division Offices. 
The Office of Student Services shall be established in schools, universities, colleges 
and other educational institutions and shall be headed by a Counselor. 
 
Section 5. Professional and Career Development of Guidance Counselors. – The 
Professional Regulations Commission and the Professional Regulatory Board of Guidance 
and Counseling in coordination with the Secretary of Education, Commission on Higher 
Education, Technical Education Skills Development Authority, the Civil Service Commission, 
Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and 
Local Government, Department of Overseas Filipino Workers, and the Department of Budget 
and Management, shall:  
(1) 
prepare a uniform career and personnel development plan that shall include 
provisions on personal wellness, merit promotion, performance evaluation, in-
service training, post graduate scholarship grants, research grants, suggestions 
and incentive award system; 
(2) 
harmonize of the Qualification Standards of Counselor related items with 
respect to par C, Sec 13 of RA 9258 otherwise known as the Guidance and 
Counseling Act;  
(3) 
match the salary grades of Counselor related items with respect provisions of 
RA 6758 otherwise known as the Position Classification and Compensation Act;  
(4) 
align the qualifications and standards for the qualification outcomes of 
Counselors to RA 10968 otherwise known as the Philippine Qualifications 
Framework Act;  
(5) 
review and align RA 5789 as amended by RA 10691 otherwise known as the 
PESO Act with RA 9258 otherwise known as the Guidance and Counseling Act 
in the delivery of career and employment services; 
(6) 
revisit the Department’s organizational structure in order to provide competent 
and professional personnel who will provide supervision and technical 
assistance to Counselors in the school levels;  
(7) 
review, revise and develop the duties and responsibilities of Guidance 
Counselors as provided by RA 9258 otherwise known as the Guidance and 
Counseling Act of 2004; 
(8) 
develop, integrate and implement the tenets and concepts of Guidance and 
Counseling in the Basic Education Curriculum in order to address enormous 
concerns of both learners and teachers such as learner’s behavior, 
responsiveness to learning and positive discipline, soft skills and vocation 
development, resiliency to the day to day problems and integral total 
development;  
(9) 
provide support staff to the Counseling Offices whom are covered by the Rule 
on Privilege Communication; 
(10) prepare of performance evaluation plan that shall consider the improvement of 
individual counselor efficiency and organizational effectiveness: Provided, That 


each employee shall be informed regularly by his/her supervisor of his/her 
performance evaluation; 
(11) provide of the institutionalization of the Basic Education Guidance and 
Counseling Manual; and,  
(12) provide periodic training and skills upgrading and development of Guidance 
Counselors as Mental Health Professionals. 
 
Section 6. Guidelines. – The Civil Service Commission and the Professional Regulatory 
Board of Guidance and Counseling in cooperation with the Department of Health, Secretary 
of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education Skills Development 
Authority, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Overseas Filipino Workers, 
and the Department of Budget and Management shall, ninety (90) days after the enactment 
of this Act, issue necessary guidelines but not limited to 
(1) the selection, recruitment and hiring of Counselors; 
(2) career and professional development of Counselors; 
(3) personnel and the nature of scope of the Guidance and Mental Health Services 
to be offered to students in educational institutions and to the general clients; 
(4) Departmental organizational structure related to Guidance and Counseling and 
Mental Health Services;  
(5) integration of Guidance and Counseling to the Basic Education Curriculum in the 
Department of Education; and, 
(6) integration of Guidance and Counseling subjects in social sciences curriculum in 
the Tertiary level. 
 
Section 7. Salary Scale. – Salary scales of counselors shall provide for a gradual 
progression from a minimum to a maximum salary by means of regular increments, granted 
automatically after three years: Provided, That the efficiency rating of the counselor 
concerned is at least very satisfactory. The progression from the minimum to the maximum 
of the salary scale shall not extend over a period of ten years. 
 
The entry level salary grade of the Counselor shall not be lower than SG-16. 
 
The thirteen (13) guidance related positions in the Government Service found in the 
Department of Budget and Management Index of Occupational Services, Occupational 
Groups, Classes and Salary Grades shall be revised to the following: 
 
 
Guidance Services: 
 
 
 
Counselor I (Generalist) 
 
 
 
SG 16 
 
 
Counselor II (Senior Generalist) 
 
 
SG 18 
 
 
Counselor (Supervisor, Specialist, or Educator) I 
SG 20 
 
 
Counselor (Supervisor, Specialist, or Educator) II 
SG 21  
 
Counselor (Supervisor, Specialist, or Educator) III SG 22 
 
 
Counselor (Supervisor, Specialist, or Educator) IV SG 23 
 
 
Counselor (Supervisor, Specialist, or Educator) V 
SG 24 
 
Section 8. Study Leave. – In addition to the leave privileges now enjoyed by the personnel 
in the public schools, counselors shall be entitled to study leave not exceeding to two years 
after five years of service. Such leave shall be granted in accordance with a schedule set by 
their respective Departments. During the period of such leave, the counselors shall be 
entitled to at least eighty-five per cent of their monthly salary: Provided, however, that no 
counselor shall be allowed to accumulate more than two years study leave, unless h/she 
needs an additional semester to finish his/her dissertation for a graduate study in education, 
counseling fields (e.g. career counseling, counseling supervision, etc.), psychology or allied 
courses: Provided, further, That no compensation shall be due the counselor after the first 


year of such leave. In all cases, the study leave period shall be counted for seniority and 
pension purposes. 
 
Section 9. Indefinite Leave. – An indefinite sick leave of absence shall be granted to 
counselors when the nature of the illness demands a long treatment that will exceed one 
year at the least. 
 
Section 10. Mental Health/Self-Care Leave. – An additional of twenty-four (24) leave day 
credits shall be added on the top of the existing annual leave/sick benefits of counselors 
intended for their mental health well-being and self-care. Unused credits shall expire at the 
end of each calendar year. 
 
Section 11. Salary Increase upon Retirement. – Public counselors having fulfilled the age 
and service requirements of the applicable retirement laws shall be given one range salary 
raise upon retirement, which shall be the basis of the computation of the lump sum of the 
retirement pay and the monthly benefits thereafter. 
 
Section 12. Overtime Work. – Where the exigencies of the service so require, any public 
counselor may be required to render, service beyond the normal eight (8) hours a day. In 
such a case, the counselors shall be paid an additional compensation in accordance with 
existing laws and prevailing practices. 
 
Section 13. Additional Compensation. – Notwithstanding Section 12 of Republic Act No. 
6758, public workers shall receive the following allowances: hazard allowance, longevity 
pay, and remote assignment allowance. 
 
Section 14. Hazard Allowance. – Public counselors shall be compensated hazard allowance 
equivalent to at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the monthly basic salary of counselors 
receiving salary grade 20 and below, and ten percent (10%) for counselors with salary grade 
21 and above. 
 
Section 15. Longevity Pay. – A monthly longevity pay equivalent to five percent (5%) of the 
monthly basic pay shall be paid to a counselor for every five (5) years of continuous, efficient 
and meritorious services rendered as endorsed by the Counselor Supervisor and certified by 
the Head of Office concerned commencing with the service after the approval of this Act. 
 
Section 16. Remote Assignment Allowance. – Public guidance counselors who accept 
assignments as such in remote areas, isolated, or in foreign stations, which for reasons of 
far distance or hard accessibility shall be entitled to an incentive bonus in the form of remote 
assignment allowance equivalent to fifty percent (50%) of their basic pay, and shall be 
entitled to reimbursement of the cost of reasonable transportation to and from and during 
official trips. 
  
In addition to the above, counselors mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be 
given priority in promotion or assignment to better areas. Their tour of duties in the remote 
areas shall not exceed two (2) years, except when there are no positions for their transfer or 
they prefer to start in such posts in excess of two (2) years. 
Counselors assigned to foreign posts shall be entitled to allowances and benefits as 
provided by RA 7157.  
 
Section 17. Medical Examination. – Compulsory medical examination (e.i. x-ray, 
laboratories, 
medical consultation 
and 
counseling, 
psychological 
and 
psychiatric 
assessment, and drug test) shall be provided free of charge to all counselors before entering 
the service in the Government or its subdivisions and shall be repeated once a year during 
the tenure of employment of all public guidance counselors: Provided, That where medical 
examination shows that medical treatment and/or hospitalization is necessary for those 


already in government service, the treatment and/or hospitalization including medicines shall 
be provided free either in a government or a private hospital by the government entity paying 
the salary of the guidance counselors: Provided, further, That the cost of such medical 
examination and treatment shall be included as automatic appropriation in said entity’s 
annual budget. 
  
Section 18. Compensation of Injuries. – Public counselors shall be protected against the 
consequences of employment and occupational injuries especially resulting to the psycho-
emotional and mental hazards in accordance with existing laws. Injuries incurred while doing 
overtime work shall be presumed work-connected. 
 
Section 19. Right to Self-Organization. – Public counselors shall have the right to freely 
form, join or assist organizations or unions for purposes not contrary to law in order to 
defend and protect their mutual interests and to obtain redness of their grievances through 
peaceful concerned activities. Provided, that public counselors shall uphold the provision of 
the IRR of RA 9258 on automatic membership to the Integrated Accredited Professional 
Organization approved by the Professional Regulatory Board of Guidance and Counseling. 
 
Section 20. Prohibition Against Elimination and/or Diminution. – Nothing in this law shall be 
construed to eliminate or in any way diminish benefits being enjoyed by public counselors at 
the time of the effectivity of this Act. 
 
Section 21. Programs/Projects Related to Guidance and Counseling and Mental Health. – In 
consultation with the Professional Regulations Commission and the Professional Regulatory 
Board of Guidance and Counseling, all departments including their attached agencies, 
offices, bureaus, agencies, state universities and colleges, government-owned and 
controlled corporations and other instrumentalities, shall formulate a Guidance and 
Counseling Plan (Educational and education-related departments) and/or Mental Health 
Plan, designed to maintain and address counseling and mental health well-being issues. The 
cost of implementation of the GCP/MH Plan shall be at least five percent (5%) of the 
agency’s total annual budget appropriations. 
 
Section 22. Appropriation. – There shall be appropriated from the National Treasury the 
sums necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act. 
 
Section 23. Penal Provision. - Any person shall willfully interfere with, restrain or coerce any 
public counselor in the exercise of his/her rights or shall in any manner any act in violation of 
any of the provisions of this Act, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than 
One Million pesos (P 1,000,000.00) but not more than six (6) years or both at the discretion 
of the court. 
  
If the offender is a public official, the court, in addition to the penalties provided in the 
preceding paragraph, may impose the additional penalty of perpetual disqualification from 
office. 
 
Section 24. Separability Clause. – If any part or provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect. 
 
Section 25. Repealing Clause. –  All other laws, decrees, orders, issuances, rules and 
regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, 
amended or modified accordingly. 
 
Section 26. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at 
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,