FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES \
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

House Bill No. 2645

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The promotion of mental health among the youth, especially among the
school children, is often neglected because of the focus given to the academic or
curricular development in aiming to upgrade and improve the quality of education
in our country. The goverment and its partners in the academe, however, fail to
realize that the intellectual development of a child can only prosper if he is given
the adequate mental health services.

Despite the immense need for counseling professionals, we have a very
limited number of school-based counselors, psychologists and social workers who
are serving in our educational institutions.

This bill seeks to recruit, hire, and train additional school-based guidance
counselors, psychologists, school social workers and mental health personnel.
This will enable the students to avail of services that will attend to their mental,
emotional and developmental needs. Hence, we can expect a holistic approach
to the development and leaming of our students.

The immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ

My

MAXIMO B. RODRIGUEZ, JR.


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

2645

House Bill No.

AN ACT
TO RECRUIT, HIRE, AND TRAIN ADDITIONAL SCHOOL-BASED GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS AND
MENTAL HEALTH PERSONNEL

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 “Students’
Guidance Counseling Act’.

SEC 2. Purposes. — The purposes of this Act are to:

(1) help elementary and secondary institutions to recruit, train, and hire
additional school-based mental health personnel, counselors, social
workers, and school psychologists;

(2) help adequately address the mental, emotional, and developmental needs
of elementary and secondary school students;

(3) remove the emotional, behavioral, and psycho-social barriers to learning
so as to enhance the classroom preparedness and ability to learn of
students;

(4) support school staff and teachers in improving classroom management,
conducting behavioral interventions to improve school discipline, and
developing the awareness and skills to identify early waming signs of
violence and the need for mental health services; and,

(5) support parents in improving the school behavior and academic success of
their children,


SEC 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act —

(1) “Mental Health and Student Service Provider’ includes a qualified school
counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker.

(2) ‘Mental Health and Student Services” includes direct, individual, and
group services provided to students, parents, and school personnel by
mental health and student service providers, or the coordination of
prevention strategies in schools or community-based programs

(3) “School Counselor’ refers to an individual who has documented
competence in counseling children and adolescents in a school setting
and who:

(A) possesses licensure or certification granted by a professional
regulatory authority;

(B) in the absence of such licensure or certification, possesses national
certification in school counseling or a specialty of counseling granted
by an independent professional organization; or,

(C) holds a minimum master's degree in schoo! counseling.

(4) "School Psychologist” refers to an individual who possesses a minimum
of sixty (60) graduate semester hours in school psychology from an
institution of higher education and has completed one thousand two
hundred (1,200) clock hours in a supervised school psychology
internship, of which six hundred (600) hours shall be in the school setting;

(8) “School Social Worker” refers to an individual who holds a master's
degree in social work.

SEC 4. Hiring of additional school-based counselors, psychologists and
Social workers. — The Secretary of Education shall, subject to existing rules and
regulations of the Department of Education, the Civil Service Commission and the
Department of Budget and Management, provide for hiring of additional school
based counselors, psychologists and social workers such that each public
elementary and secondary school will have at least three (3) counselors, one (1)
psychologist, one (1) social worker, and other mental health and students service
providers when the need arises.

SEC 5. Guidelines. - The Secretary of Education shall, one hundred
twenty (120) days after the enactment of this Act, issue the necessary guidelines
in the selection, recruitment and hiring of personnel and the nature and scope of
the mental health and services to be offered to students.


SEC 6. Appropriations, ~ There shall be appropriated from the National
Treasury such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act

SEC 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid
or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise
affected shall remain valid and subsisting

SEC 8. Repealing Clause. ~ Any law, presidential decree or issuance,
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby modified or
amended accordingly.

SEC 7. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved.