Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. _1539

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVES ALFREDO A. GARBIN, Jr. and
ELIZALDY S.CO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS AS BENEFICIARIES
OF THE SPECIAL EDUCATION FUND (SEF), AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE RA
7160 OR THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991, AS AMENDED

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code
of 1991, as amended, to include private schools as beneficiaries of the Special
Education Fund (SEF). Under the law, the SEF or the proceeds from 1% additional tax
on real property, is automatically released to local school boards to be utilized in
sustaining operation and maintenance, construction and repair of school buildings,
facilities and equipment, educational research, purchase of books and periodicals, and
sports development as determined and approved by the Local Schoo! Board

The primordial intent of the State is to provide for quality education to all
students, regardless of social or economic status. Further, the State invests in future of
our country by seeking to provide the best education for our youth.

In order to achieve this goal, we must first ensure equal opportunity for public
and private schools. Under the current situation, we cannot achieve this because of the
the following reasons. First, private schools cannot compete with public schools in terms
of salaries for teachers. This results to the exodus of experienced teachers from private
schools to public schools. Second, private schools are reduced to being training
grounds for teachers who want to gain experience while waiting for a permanent item in
public schools. This inevitably impacts the quality of education in private schools
because of the frequent replacement of teachers. Third, private schools in order to cope
with the disparity, are forced to increase the tuition of students in order to provide
attractive salaries for teachers. This forces parents who have limited budget to transfer
their children from private schools to public schools, resulting to even more congestion
in the already congested public schools.

Public schools enjoy support, from Local Government Units. This translates to
higher quality of education with the services of more trained, highly motivated and
experienced teachers who are paid relatively higher. Private schools on the other hand,
are left to fend for themselves and are constrained to resort to tuition fee increase to
provide for competitive salaries for teachers if they hope to give quality education.
Students in private schools should also benefit from the SEF because their parents are
also taxpayers from whom the LGUs source the said special education fund.


With the enactment of this bill, part of the SEF will be used for funding teacher-
student development programs in private schools, as the need arises, which would be
determined and approved by the Local School Board. This way, we can provide for
additional assistance for students and teachers in private schools to raise the quality of
education they provide, and at par with public schools. Part of the fund will be used for
Private schools for, seminars, workshops, trainings, scholarships and continuing
education, among others, of teachers and students.

It view of the foregoing, the prompt passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

Y S. CO



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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
‘Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 1539

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVES ALFREDO A. GARBIN, Jr. and
ELIZALDY S.CO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS AS BENEFICIARIES OF THE
SPECIAL EDUCATION FUND (SEF), AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE RA 7160 OR
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991, AS AMENDED

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title — This Act shall be known as the “Special Education Fund for Private
Schools Act of 2016",

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy — It is the declared policy of the State to protect and
promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take
appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.

SECTION 3. Section 99 of RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, as
amended is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SECTION 99. Functions of Local School Boards. - The provincial, city or
municipal school board shall:

(a) Determine, in accordance with the criteria set by the Department of
Education, Culture and Sports, the annual supplementary budgetary
needs for the operation and maintenance of public schools AND THE
ANNUAL SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET FOR TEACHER-STUDENT
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS within the
province, city, or municipality, as the case may be, and the
supplementary local cost of meeting such needs, which shall be
reflected in the form of an annual school board budget corresponding
to its share of the proceeds of the special levy on real property
constituting the Special Education Fund and such other sources of
revenue as this Code and other laws or ordinances may provide;

(0) xxx

SECTION 4. Section 272 of RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, as
amended is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 272. Application of Proceeds of the Additional One Percent SEF Tax. -
The proceeds from the additional one percent (1%) tax on real property accruing
to the Special Education Fund (SEF) shall be automatically released to the local


4

school boards: Provided, That, in case of provinces, the proceeds shall be
divided equally between the provincial and municipal school boards: Provided,
however, That PART OF the proceeds shall be allocated for the operation and
maintenance of public schools, construction and repair of schoo! buildings,
facilities and equipment, educational research, purchase of books and
periodicals, and sports development as determined and approved by the Local
School Board. PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT PART OF THE PROCEEDS
SHALL BE ALLOCATED FOR TEACHER-STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CONTINUING
EDUCATION AS DETERMINED AND APPROVED BY THE LOCAL SCHOOL
BOARD.”

SECTION 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of interior and
Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Education (DepEd) shall
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to implement this Act not later
than ninety (90) days after its effectivity.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid, the
other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.

SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations and
other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Republic Act No. 1161 as
amended, is further amended accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved.