REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS Second Regular Session

House Resolution No. 1567

Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Representative Raymond V. Palatino

A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION AND THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE VARIOUS MEANS AND MODES EMPLOYED BY SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS TO PROMOTE THE USE OF SPOKEN ENGLISH IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS BY DISCOURAGING AND PENALIZING STUDENTS FOR SPEAKING IN FILIPINO AND IN OTHER NATIVE LANGUAGES WHEREAS, it has been prevalent practice throughout the years, in many schools nationwide, both public and private, to impose fines for speaking in Filipino and other native languages in order to promote the use of English in conversation inside and outside the classroom; WHEREAS, even if there is an absence of school administration-sanctioned policy penalizing the speaking in Filipino and other native languages, many teachers, by practice, informally impose penalties through classroom fines among their classes in order to encourage the use of English as a spoken language and discourage the speaking of Filipino even on the level of informal and extracurricular conversation among children; WHEREAS, some teachers, in order impose an English-speaking policy outside the classroom, even tell schoolchildren that they will call their parents to check, among other psychological and authoritative threats as means to exact full compliance from them; WHEREAS, the promotion of using the English language, even if justified on the premise that such is necessary for training for global competitiveness, should never justify penalizing the use of Filipino and other native languages; WHEREAS, the practice of discouraging the use of Filipino and other native languages among students has and continues to impress upon our children and our youth that the use of Filipino is inferior to the use of English and, as if a crime or an offense, is worthy of being imposed with fines and other modes of penalties; WHEREAS, there are more creative and effective means of promoting the use of English that
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do not resort to implementing the degrading and insulting policy of discouraging and penalizing the use of Filipino and other native languages; WHEREAS, this year's Buwan ng Wika is an opportune time for the House of Representatives to look into this practice of encouraging the use of English among our children by discouraging and penalizing the use of the Filipino and other native languages.
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the House Committee on Basic Education and the Committee on Higher and Technical Education conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the various means and modes of employed by schools and teachers in order to promote the speaking of English among students in all levels by discouraging and penalizing students for speaking in Filipino and in other native languages.

Adopted,

HON. RAYMOND V. PALATINO Representative, Kabataan Party-list