REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. 
Introduced by ABONO Party-list Representative 
HON. ROBERT RAYMUND M. ESTRELLA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Instructional gardens expand the landscape of learning children and youth by allowing 
them opportunities for hands-on learning outside of the classroom. Aside from hands-on learning 
on how to grow plants and its process in an outdoor setting, they also provide a variety of 
corresponding lessons like composting, weather gauging, plotting and graphing, food varieties, 
food preservation, and nutrition that span an entire curriculum. In sum, instructional or learning 
gardens enhance academic instruction and enable learners to acquire a more holistic education. 
Researches have also shown that instructional gardening programs with young learners 
help improve dietary quality and nutritional status and prevent obesity. Improving learners ’ 
awareness and ability to identify specific fruits and vegetables, as well as how they grow, increases 
their willingness to try to consume these foods more often. Repeated positive experiences with 
fruits and vegetables, increasing their accessibility and availability, and gaining knowledge about 
where these foods come from through instructional gardening experiences, increase preferences 
for intake of fruits and vegetables, and consequently, lead to improving the weight and nutritio nal 
status of children as well as their level of physical activity. (Davis, K. & Bran, L. Examining the 
Benefits and Barriers of Instructional Gardening Programs to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake 
Among Pre-School Age Children. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Vol. 2017). 
In the Philippines, the thrust towards quality education underscores the need for expanding 
the learning landscape to include learning experiences outside the classroom. Instructional gardens 
meet the need for out-of-classroom, hands-on learning that help make education more holist ic, 
thereby enhancing its quality. 
Moreover, according to the FNRI there was a relatively low prevalence of overweight at 
2.9 percent among Filipino children under five years old and a medium prevalence of 9.1 percent 
and 9.8 percent among children aged five to 10 years old and 10 to 19 years old, respectively. They 
add that among Filipino adolescents, overweight has tripled in the last 15 years, with a higher rate 
of overweight children in urban areas in the country. Through instructional gardens, young learners 
are provided with the opportunity to better appreciate the value of consuming food that is more 
nutritious, especially when done hand-in-hand classroom instruction that underscore the 
importance of improved nutrition. 
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The success of the Gulayan sa Paaralan program which has been implemented since 2007 
to supplement feeding programs intended to alleviate malnutrition and hunger in selected localit ies 
encourage confidence that institutionalizing instructional gardening programs in all public and 
private elementary schools is a huge step in the right direction not only to achieve quality 
education, but more importantly, to advance hunger mitigation, improve nutrition and dietary 
quality, and promote good health among young people in our country. 
As such, approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
Rep. Robert Raymund M. Estrella 
ABONO Party-list 


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. 
Introduced by ABONO Party-list Representative 
HON. ROBERT RAYMUND M. ESTRELLA 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL 
GARDENING PROGRAMS IN ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ELEMENTARY AND 
SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled, 
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SECTION 1. Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Instructional Gardens Act.” 
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SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State shall protect and promote the right of all citize ns 
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to quality education. It shall also protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill 
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health consciousness among them. 
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Toward the attainment of these goals, all public and private educational institutions shall 
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include nutrition and health consciousness in their elementary and high school curriculum. They 
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shall also include opportunities for out-of-classroom hands-on learning by establishing 
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instructional gardens for the growing of vegetables and other plants of nutritional value, and shall 
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reserve and devote a reasonable portion of their school lots for the purpose. 
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SEC. 3. Definition. – The term “Instructional Garden” refers to a plot of land or an area 
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within the school’s premises devoted to the growing of vegetables and other plants of nutritio nal 
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value and intended to promote interactive, hands-on learning for skills and knowledge on planting, 
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composting, waste management techniques, fundamental nutrition concepts, health consciousness, 
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and such other related skills and knowledge on food, health and nutrition, as well as agricult ure 
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and its significance to the national economy. 
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SEC. 4. Instructional Gardens Program. – The Instructional Gardens Program (IGP) shall 
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be implemented in all public and private elementary and secondary schools in the country. They 
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shall reserve and devote a portion of their school lots or a specific area in their school grounds for 
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the planting of vegetables and other plants of nutritive value as identified by the Department of 
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Agriculture (DA), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd) and other 
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concerned agencies. 
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Schools lacking or without any available lot or land area, or located in urban areas, shall 
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apply and use hydroponic gardening and other organic or sustainable gardening technologies with 
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the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of 
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Agriculture (DA), and other relevant government agencies. 
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The Instructional Gardens Program shall include a continuing system of involving parents 
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and the community at large in instructional gardening activities as well as in promoting awareness 
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of the nutrition, health, and economic benefits of establishing school, household, and communit y 
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gardens. 
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SEC. 5. Identification of Instructional Garden Site. – No private or public elementary or 
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secondary school shall be established without first securing a certification from the Divis ion 
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Superintendent attesting that a plot of land or area in the school premises has been designated as 
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instructional garden site or has been reserved as the site for an instructional garden using 
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hydroponic gardening methods or other organic and sustainable gardening technologies. This 
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provision shall also apply to schools seeking the issuance of permits for their academic programs. 
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SEC. 6. Nutrition and Health Consciousness. – It shall be mandatory for all public and 
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private elementary and secondary schools to include nutrition and health consciousness in their 
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curriculum as well as the significance of agriculture to national food sufficiency and the 
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development of the national economy. 
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SEC. 7. Tax Incentives. – All donations or contributions, grants, endowments, and 
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technical assistance and services provided by private individuals, groups or corporations top 
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schools and other educational institutions for the purpose of supporting the Instructional Gardening 
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Program (IGP) as certified by DepEd or duly authorized officials thereof, shall be exempt from 
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taxes and duties. 
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SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The DepEd and the DA, in consultat ion 
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with other relevant agencies and groups shall issue the implementing rules and regulations within 
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sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act. 
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SEC. 9. Appropriations. – The amount needed for the initial implementation of this Act 
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shall be taken from the current year’s appropriation of the DepEd. Thereafter, such sums as may 
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be necessary for its continued implementation shall be included in the General Appropriations Act. 
 
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SEC. 4. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders or parts thereof 
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inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
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SEC. 5. Separability Clause. – If any part or provision of this Act is declared invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the other parts not otherwise affected shall remain in full effect and force. 
 
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SEC. 6. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect within fifteen (15) days following its 
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publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,