Republic of the Philippines co
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

QUEZON CITY . ,
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19™ Congress . yan. °°
First Regular Session me poo

1164

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by: HON. LORNA C. SILVERIO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Pursuant to the national policy of the State to recognize the importance of the youth and
students in nation building which shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual,
intellectual, and social being, the State shall instil] disaster awareness and promote active
participation in disaster preparedness for the benefit of the nation, Thus, this bill seeks to
integrate the study of disaster awareness, preparation and mitigation in the academic
curriculum of secondary and college students.

Recent study about national disaster mitigation which was funded by the International
Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) showed that the Filipino people are more
reactionary than anticipatory in their disaster-preparedness and hazard awareness programs.
And in a world increasingly threatened by the adverse effects of climate change that bring with
it strong typhoons and other disasters, the urgency of making our youth fully aware oftognizant
of the nced for disaster preparedness and mitigation has become more pronounced. This is most
urgent for the youth of the country given that the Philippines is located in the so-called Ring of
Fire that makes it very vulnerable to disasters and calamities like storms, earthquakes, tsunamis
and other life-threatening events.

Presently, the youth are inadequately ill prepared for these possible occurrences. While
many if not all of them were exposed to a calamity or disaster, awareness should require the
responding action or response. These should include basic or fundamental safety precautions,
first aid treatment and related information that equip the youth with needed survival response
mechanism. This can only be achieved if required knowledge is taught to them. And this
proposed measure aims to integrate in the academic curricula of all primary and secondary
schools of the educational system of the country, the subject on disaster awareness and disaster
mitigation to instill disaster awareness and promote active participation of the youth, students
and society as a whole in disaster preparedness that will put them in a better position to assess
their surroundings and be in control of themselves when an emergency arises.

For the foregoing reasons, the passage of this bill is earnestly requested.

LORNA C. SILVERIO
Representative, 3“ District of Bulacan



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
QUEZON CITY

19™ Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1164

Introduced by: HON. LORNA C. SILVERIO

AN ACT REQUIRING THE TEACHING OF DISASTER AWARE AND
DISASTER MITIGATION AS PART OF THE CURRICULUM OF ALL PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY SCHOOL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

SECTION 1. Teaching of disaster mitigs is hereby required to be part of the curriculum of
all primary and secondary schools in the Philippines.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy- It is the national policy of the State to recognize the
importance of the youth and students in nation building which shall promote and protect their
physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social being. And as part of this policy, the State
must protect the youth by instilling disaster awareness and promoting active participation in
disaster preparedness for the benefit of the nation.

SECTION 3. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).— The Department of Education
(DepEd) shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations to implement to provisions of this Act.

SECTION 4. Appropriations. ~The Funds needed for this purpose shall be taken from the
appropriation of the Department of Education (DepEd). Thereafter, such amount necessary for
the implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 5. Separability Clause. — If any part or provision of this Act shall be held
unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions thereof which are not affected thereby shall
continue to be in full force and effect.

SECTION 6. Repealing Clause. — All laws, presidential decrees, executive, orders,
proclamations, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.



SECTION 7. Effectivity Clause. — This Act take effect fifteen (15) days from its publication
in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

MALS