Duterte signs law restoring good manners subject

MANILA, Philippines  — Schools are once again going to have Good Manners and Right Conduct classes, after President Duterte signed into law yesterday Republic Act 11476 or the GMRC and Values Education Act.

“The signing of the GMRC and Values Education Act is really timely, and I want to thank the President for his swift action on this important measure,” said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author of the measure.

“I hope the Department of Education can work on the IRR in time for the opening of classes come August,” he added. “With many schools set on implementing distance learning, it’s going to be even more vital that we give our students formative guidance through GMRC and values education.”

He said a strengthened GMRC and values program would hopefully make up for the blended learning methods brought about by the pandemic.

“Kids are going to be at home all day, learning in isolation from their peers. They’re not going to have the natural avenues for empathetic learning that springs from face-to-face interaction with their peers and with their teachers,” Zubiri said.

The law institutionalizes a comprehensive GMRC and Values Education program in the K-12 curriculum of the DepEd, replacing the current Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao curriculum.

GMRC will be integrated into daily activities in the kindergarten level, and then it will be taught as a separate subject from Grades 1 to 6.

Grades 7 to 10 will carry a Values Education subject, into which GMRC shall be integrated.

For Grades 11 and 12, Values Education shall be integrated in all subjects under the K-12 Basic Education Curriculum.

GMRC was dissolved as a subject under the K-12 program in 2013.