AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF DECS ORDER NO. 13, S. 1998

1.         Declaration of Policy — It is the declared policy
of the State in conformity with the mandate of the Constitution, to
encourage and promote the teaching of religion to children in public
elementary and high schools within the regular class hours. For the
State is cognizant of the vital role that the teaching of religion
assumes in citizen formation, particularly the molding of our youth.
Hence, the State recognizes the necessity of religious instruction not
only in the private school but also in public schools. For these
purposes, this Department shall provide hereunder the mechanics to
enable the teaching of religion in all public elementary and high
schools over the country, fully aware in the process that the
Constitution prohibits the government from favoring a particular
establishment or religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Furthermore, the implementation of this Order should not entail
additional cost to the government.

2.         Coverage — This Order shall apply to all public elementary and high schools in the Philippines.

3.         Definition of Terms — As used in this Order, the following terms shall mean:

a. Religion — an institutionalized systems of beliefs, attitudes and practices.

b. Values education — the integration into the school curriculum
of universally accepted as well as Filipino human, social, moral,
political, economic and cultural values.

c. Optional religious instruction — refers to the religion classes
conducted in the public elementary and high schools for students or
pupils whose parents opted to exercise their right to request religious
instruction for their children or ward. The optional character of
religious instruction in public schools pertains as prerogative or choice of
the parents or guardians of the children, who are free to request or
not to request that the children under their care be instructed in the
religion of their choice. The principal or school head shall accommodate
said request by providing or sourcing the needed teacher/instructor.
However, in the event said teacher/instructor for the chosen
denomination or religion should be unavailable, Sec. 7, below, shall
apply.

d. Regular class hours — refers to the regular or normal scheduled periods of instruction or laboratory work for a student.

e. Class period — the average length of time scheduled for one session or instructional period in a course.

4.         The Teachers/Instructors — The religious teachers/instructors who teach religion classes in the public elementary and high schools shall be formally
sourced or recruited by the respective principal or school head in
accordance with the corresponding request for optional religious
instruction. After their designation or nomination by their respective religious authorities, said teachers/instructors shall submit to the principal or school head their proper authorization papers and request for time allocation and schedule for the optional religious instruction. Ordinary teachers teaching in a certain school may also teach religion in the same or another
school during the periods when they are free from their ordinary
teaching loads, and provided they are authorized to do so by the
competent religious authority of their denomination.

5.         Recipient of Religious Instruction — The
teachers/instructors of religion as referred to in Paragraph 4 shall be
allowed to teach those pupils/students whose parents or guardians have
opted to request that their children or wards be taught the religion of
their choice. The option to request that their children or wards learn
religious in school shall be expressed in writing by the parent or
guardian who shall likewise accomplish in full the necessary application
form. No student/pupil shall be allowed or permitted to attend
religious instruction classes without the said written application and
duly accomplished request of his/her parent or guardian.

6.         The Application — The application referred to in
the next preceding paragraph, shall clearly indicate the faith or
religious instruction the student/pupil should receive from the
authorized religion teachers/instructors, and the preferred schedule for religious instruction.

7.         Non-recipient of Religious Instruction — Students not
receiving religious instruction or those with request but there is no
available teacher/instructor for the particular denomination requested
should be under the supervision of their respective class adviser during
the time religion classes are going on.

8.         Size and Scheduling of Religious Classes — The
optional religious instruction shall be taught during regular recess
time. Religious classes should not number more than forty students of
the same level and of the same religion, except where the religious
authority certifies that his teachers/instructors can allow for a bigger
number due to its practicality, availability of time slot schedule,
instructors/teachers, classroom material and related matters.

The principal or school head shall fix the schedule of the religion
class hours taking into account the number of the religion
teachers/instructors that can be fielded by the different denomination
at one time.

9.         Duration of Religion Classes — The optional
religious instruction shall be alloted at least eighty minutes a week,
spread over at least two (2) but not more than three (3) meetings in one
week. in no case shall the class periods be alloted less than ninety
(90) minutes per week.

10.       Optional Religious Instruction and Values Education
— The optional religious instruction and the values education of this
Department are separate, different, and distinct subjects. As such they
shall be allotted separate class hours and in no case shall they be
taken together by the students in one and the same class period,
PROVIDED, however, that if the principal or school head cannot find any
available time slots for the optional religious instruction in the
weekly class schedule, with the conformity of the religious teachers or
instructors, the optional religious instruction shall be alloted at
least two (2) of the present five (5) time-slots assigned every week to
Values Education.

11.       Administrative Sanctions — Any principal, school
head, or teacher who violates any provision of this Order shall, after
due process, be subjected to appropriate disciplinary sanctions.

12.       Immediate and wide dissemination of the contents of this Order is directed.

Adopted: 29 Nov. 2000

(SGD). ANDREW GONZALEZ, FSC
Secretary