By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Win Gatchalian on Monday (27 Nov 2023) announced that the proposed 2024 national budget will compel the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to formulate training regulations for child development workers (CDWs).
The Senate Committee on Finance has included Gatchalian’s proposal in its committee report on the General Appropriations Bill, aiming to prioritize the upskilling of CDWs.
According to Gatchalian’s suggested special provision, the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council and TESDA will collaborate to prioritize the establishment of a training framework leading to ECCD qualification. This regulation will be applicable to both existing and future CDWs.
Research conducted by the senator’s office revealed that 16%, or 11,196 individuals, among the total pool of CDWs, are high school graduates.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, remarked, “TESDA came up with a training regulation for barangay health workers. The same principle applies to our child development workers, our current daycare teachers.”
“The training regulation and certification will elevate their skills, enabling them to perform their jobs more effectively and demonstrating their essential training,” he added.
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By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Win Gatchalian has announced the allocation of a total of P1.5 billion for the training of teachers in the MATATAG curriculum.
This decision follows the recommendation made by the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Gatchalian, to set aside funds for the training of educators in preparation for the rollout of the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum.
As outlined in the committee’s report on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), P1.5 billion has been earmarked for the training of teachers in the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum. The rollout is scheduled to commence in phases, beginning in the School Year (SY) 2024-2025, targeting Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7.
Gatchalian noted that while the initial recommendation was P1.7 billion, the final allocation is P1.5 billion.
“Our crucial recommendation focuses on the training of teachers for the MATATAG curriculum. We proposed P1.7 billion to facilitate the training of teachers for the rollout, commencing in the School Year 2024-2025.
The approved amount of P1.5 billion will be utilized to train approximately 200,000 teachers across Key Stage 1 and other grade levels,” said Gatchalian, who serves as the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.
Highlighting the need for change, Gatchalian emphasized that experts have identified the current K to 12 basic education curriculum as overly congested. This congestion, according to the senator, hampers learners from mastering essential competencies, including literacy and numeracy.
The Department of Education (DepEd) states that the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum places a strong emphasis on foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills. Additionally, it incorporates peace competencies.
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Ni Liza Soriano
ININSPEKSIYON nina Senador Risa Hontiveros at Win Gatchalian ang gusali ng ni-raid na gaming operator na Smart Web Technology (SWT) sa Pasay City.
Hindi makapaniwala ang dalawang senador kung paano nagawa ng isang Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) na ganito kalaki ang umano’y isang prostitution den sa kabila ng pagiging malapit nito sa lokal na pulisya, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Pasay City Hall, at maging sa Senado.
Kapwa rin na-shock ang dalawang senador nang makita nila nang personal ang tinaguriang “torture room” sa loob ng SWT building.
“Gaya n’yo, na-shock din ako sa nakita ko na torture chamber kung saan ginagapos ang mga empleyado ng Smart Web. Walang ilaw, walang pagkain, pasa-pasa at bugbog-bugbog ang sinapit ng mga biktima ng mapangahas at abusadong employer na ito. The walls are literally blood-stained,” wika ni Hontiveros na siyang chairperson ng Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
“Seems like we are now the human trafficking and human slavery hub in the world… Ang kinakatakutan ko, lalala at lalala ito,” ayon naman kay Gatchalian.
Ngunit ang mas nakababahala, anila, ay ang pagkakatuklas ng Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) na isang grupo ang nagbibigay ng mga tunay na Philippine government ID sa mga dayuhang manggagawa ng POGO.
“From our initial verification made with the commissioner of the BIR… Nagulat po sila nang malaman nila na nakapasok po sa sistema nila itong mga IDs na ito. So authentic po,” ayon kay PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz.
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By Liza Soriano
Senator Win Gatchalian emphasized on Saturday that the programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) should be aligned with the most in-demand jobs today until 2025.
The Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of Local Employment’s (DOLE-BLE) Jobs and Labor Market Forecast and the TESDA Skills Need Anticipation Survey indicate that until 2025, information technology business process management (IT-BPM), construction, logistics, agriculture, and health will be the industries with the highest employment growth rates.
Using data from TESDA, the senator’s office was able to break down and analyze the 2022 Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) enrollment by sector.
The top five sectors with the highest enrollment in TVET are agriculture, forestry, and fishery (18.3%), tourism (16%), programs with no training regulations (14.7%), automotive and land transportation (9.6%), and social, community development and other services (8.3%).
“None of the top five most popular courses offered by TESDA are aligned with industries that will grow in the next three to five years. Again, we see a lot of jobs-skills mismatch even at the tech-voc level and this is one aspect that we’re also addressing at the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II),” said Gatchalian, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education and EDCOM II Co-Chairperson.
“It’s deeply concerning that we provide scholarship programs to our graduates who don’t end up in the fastest-growing industries of our country,” he added.
The senator’s office also analyzed data from the June 2021 Labor Force Survey and found out that among senior high school graduates who took the technical-vocational livelihood track, 50.6% are employed in elementary occupations.
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By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian filed a bill seeking to improve the governance and quality of education in local universities and colleges, which are higher educational institutions that are being run by local government units.
“Mahalaga ang papel ng ating mga LUCs sa pagbibigay ng abot-kayang edukasyon sa ating mga kababayan at sa pagpapaunlad ng ating mga bayan at mga lungsod. Kailangang suportahan natin sila sa kanilang pagsisikap na maghatid ng dekalidad na edukasyon at tiyaking sila ay may maayos na pamunuan,” said Gatchalian.
The legislator noted that while the number of LUCs rose from 107 in 2018 to 143 in 2023 to address the growing demand for higher education, concerns on governance sustainability, and quality standards persist in these institutions.
A policy note from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies revealed the three-year election cycle weakens leadership in LUCs, causing policy discontinuity, insufficient resource management, and ineffective investment strategies.
Gatchalian’s Local Universities and Colleges Governance Act prescribes mandatory guidelines on the creation of LUCs. Before enacting an ordinance creating a local university or college, local government units must obtain institutional recognition as a higher education institution from the Commission on Higher Education.
The requirements for the establishment of LUCs for institutional recognition shall include a feasibility study, certification of availability of funds from the local treasurer, a project development plan, and a five-year institutional development plan.
LUCs established in accordance with the proposed measure shall be eligible to avail of the benefits provided under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, also known as the free college education law.
The highest policy-making body of a local university or college will be the Board of Regents, chaired by the local chief executive. The president of the LUC, responsible for overseeing the institution’s administration, shall serve as the body’s vice chairperson and must hold a doctoral degree in education or related fields. The president’s term shall be three years, with the possibility of reappointment for up to two terms.
The proposed measure also stipulates that LUCs must secure CHED approval before offering higher academic programs.
Data from CHED also reveals that 41 out of 143 LUCs are not officially recognized by the State.
Out of the 102 LUCs with institutional recognition, 35 percent still lack program compliance, which means that these LUCs offer programs that do not fully adhere to CHED’s policy standards and guidelines.
By Dang Samson-Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian plans to file a bill that seeks to create an independent agency to test and evaluate learner outcomes.
“The Department of Education formulates and delivers the curriculum, formulates the assessment, analyzes the data, and based on the findings, the DepEd tells itself to make corrections. If you think about it, how can the DepEd do self-correction when it is the one who developed and delivered the curriculum?” Gatchalian said.
“So it makes sense to have an independent body to come up with the assessment, analyze it, and tell the DepEd what to do, because then you have the concept of check and balance,” he added.
Gatchalian said that in 1991, the first Congressional Commission on Education l recommended the creation of an autonomous national testing and evaluation agency, which shall develop, administer, supervise, and evaluate national achievement tests.
The EDCOM I also proposed that this agency shall conduct and evaluate other tests on aptitude, intelligence, personality, equivalency, and tests for national scholarships.
The senator cited Australia’s National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy, which determines how well young Australians are developing literacy and numeracy.
The NAPLAN is developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, an independent statutory authority responsible for the development of a national curriculum, a national assessment program, and a national data collection and reporting program.
In Finland, the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre carries out evaluations for early childhood education all the way to higher education.
Gatchalian lamented that there is no periodic and systemic analysis of assessment data to inform educational policy. Assessment datasets are also not publicly available for external review, which also leads to the lack of a clear and timely feedback mechanism of assessment data for learners, teachers, experts, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday underscored the imperative role of schools to protect students from the perils of hazing amid reports that another student died following initiation rites.
He said that under the anti-hazing law, schools are mandated not only to protect their students but also to launch information campaigns at the start of every semester or trimester targeting students and parents or guardians on the consequences of hazing.
“Taos-puso akong nakikiramay sa pamilya ni Aldrin Bravente. Kaisa ako ng pamilya sa paghahangad ng hustisya at nananawagan ako sa mga alagad ng batas na tiyaking mahuhuli ang mga sangkot sa pagkamatay ni Aldrin,” said Gatchalian, co-author and co-sponsor of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.
Police reports said Bravente underwent fraternity initiation rites in an abandoned house in Quezon City.
He died at the Chinese General Hospital where he was rushed. The police have so far arrested four suspects.
Gatchalian said that the anti-hazing law prohibits all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities, and organizations in schools, including citizens’ military training and citizens’ army training.
The law imposes the penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of P3 million on those who planned or participated in hazing that results in death, rape, sodomy or mutilation.
By Dang Samson-Garcia
THE Senate Committee on Basic Education will hold an inquiry on the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum to assess the Department of Education’s readiness for its rollout, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said.
“Kung epektibo nating maipapatupad ang MATATAG curriculum, matitiyak natin ang pagkatuto ng ating mga mag-aaral at unti-unti nating mawawakasan ang krisis sa sektor ng edukasyon,” Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Basic Education Committee, said.
He stressed the need to effectively implement the new curriculum to improve learners’ performance and reverse the country’s education crisis.
The pilot run of the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum started on September 25 this year in 35 schools in seven regions.
Gatchalian earlier called on the Teacher Education Council chaired by the Education secretary to ensure the alignment of teacher education and training to the MATATAG K to 10 curriculum.
The new curriculum decongests learning competencies to allow learners to focus on literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills. Peace competencies are also among the features of the MATATAG K to 10 Curriculum.
The curriculum will have a phased implementation, which will start in School Year 2024-2025 for Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7.
The curriculum will roll out in Grades 2, 5, and 8 in SY 2025-2026; followed by Grades 3, 6, and 9 in SY 2026-2028. By SY 2027-2028, the revised curriculum will roll out in Grade 10, followed by the full curriculum implementation in 2028.
By Dang Samson-Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian pressed for the passage of a bill he filed that seeks to strengthen the involvement of local government units in improving the quality and delivery of education.
Senate Bill 155 also aims to expand the local school board and its responsibilities to include the formulation of policies focusing on quality of education.
Gatchalian emphasized that local government units have greater agility to respond to challenges on the ground.
“Dahil mas malapit ang mga LGU sa ating mga kababayan at mas nauunawaan nila ang mga agarang pangangailangan pagdating sa edukasyon, isinusulong natin ang pagpapalawak ng responsibilidad ng ating mga local school board. Kung maisabatas ang ating panukala, magiging katuwang natin ang bawat LGU sa pag-angat sa kalidad ng edukasyon,” he said.
Under Gatchalian’s proposal, the expanded local school board will be mandated to introduce programs whose success indicators will include, among others, the participation rate of students, number of dropouts and out-of-school youth, achievement scores measured by national tests or assessment tools, establishment of child development centers, support to special needs education, the Alternative Learning System, and the parent effectiveness service program.
The senator likewise wants to expand the use of the SEF to include salaries of teachers and non-teaching personnel in public schools, salaries of preschool teachers, capital outlay for pre-schools, operation and maintenance of ALS programs, teachers’ and non-teaching personnel and honorarium and allowances for additional services rendered outside of regular school hours, among others.
The lawmaker filed other measures that seek to expand the role of LGUs when it comes to education. The Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act or Senate Bill 2029, for instance, seeks to impose greater responsibilities on LGUs on the implementation of early childhood care and development programs.
By Dang Samson-Garcia
THE Senate Committee on Basic Education and Culture on Monday started tackling a measure that aims to redefine the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction.
Senate Bill 2457 filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian states that except for monolingual classes from Kindergarten to Grade 3, the delivery of basic education shall be in Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.
Gatchalian stressed the need to address challenges surrounding the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education.
The proposal seeks the use of regional languages as auxiliary media of instruction, which he said is a flexible approach provided under the Constitution.
Gatchalian’s proposal provides, however, that the principles and framework of the MTB-MLE shall continue in monolingual classes, which refer to groups of learners who speak the same mother tongue and are enrolled in the same grade level.
The use of the MTB-MLE was institutionalized in the Enhanced Basic Education of 2013 or the K to 12 Law.
The senator pointed out that while the 2020 Census of Population and Housing shows that there are about 245 reported languages in the country, the Department of Education officially covers only 19 languages in implementing MTB-MLE.
Gatchalian said that some of the widely spoken languages such as Boholano, Masbateño, and Kankanaey are not covered by the 19 languages used by the DepEd.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is set to file a bill that aims to update the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.
The proposed measure will grant a special hardship allowance to mobile teachers, including Alternative Learning System mentors.
Gatchalian also seeks to protect teachers from out-of-pocket expenses and non-teaching tasks. The bill will contain provisions for teachers’ basic rights and longevity pay.
“Napapanahon na upang tiyakin nating tumutugon ang Magna Carta sa mga pangangailangan at hamong kinakaharap ng ating mga guro. Nakatakda tayong maghain ng panukalang batas na mag-aamyenda sa Magna Carta, at magpapanukala tayo ng mga bagong probisyong siguradong magtataguyod sa kapakanan ng ating mga guro,” the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education said.
Gatchalian pointed out that it has been 57 years since the Magna Carta for Teachers was passed, yet some of its provisions have not been fully realized.
One such provision is Section 22, which entitles public school teachers to a free annual physical examination.
While the Department of Education has provided some monetary medical assistance since 2019, there is still no program for the annual check-up of teachers as mandated by the Magna Carta, the senator said.
Another concern is Section 26 of the law, which stipulates that a retiring teacher should be promoted one rank higher, and the salary of that rank should be the basis for calculating retirement benefits.
However, the current method of computation used by the Government Service Insurance System relies on the average monthly compensation that the employee received during the last 36 months of service prior to retirement.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian stressed the need to address the estimated P4.1 billion in deficiencies for free higher education in State Universities and Colleges to ensure quality in higher education.
“I will really work hard to find that P4.1 billion to fill in the gap next year. Kaya nga Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education ang tawag sa batas. We’re not only after access, we’re also addressing quality, but the deficit can slowly erode quality,” Gatchalian said.
Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges President Dr. Tirso Ronquillo earlier reported that the projected Program of Receipts and Expenditures for 2024 is P25.8 billion.
However, the National Expenditure Program only allocates P21.6 billion for free higher education in SUCs. The Program of Receipts and Expenditures is based on tuition and other school fees multiplied by the enrollment rate.
During a Senate hearing, Ronquillo said that for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, SUCs also faced deficiencies in free higher education funding. For 2022, SUCs had a deficiency of P2.8 billion.
In 2023, their deficiency amounted to P4.2 billion.
“The problem with the deficit is that it will eat into the cash flow of our SUCs. Meaning, they cannot invest in laboratories, in classrooms, or in other facilities. In other words, we cannot deliver the quality education that we are aiming to deliver because obviously, in the delivery of quality education you also need facilities, you also need laboratories,” Gatchalian said.
The lawmaker noted that despite the increase in the number of college students receiving free higher education, the increase in the budget has not been commensurate.
In 2022, there were 1.6 million student-beneficiaries of the free higher education program while 1.7 million students benefited in 2023.
For each fiscal year, the allocation for free higher education in SUCs amounted to P18.7 billion. PASUC projected that 1.8 million students will avail of free higher education for 2024.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics also said that as of July 29 this year, the tertiary education participation rate in the Philippines is 51.38%, the second highest in the ASEAN after Singapore’s which is 91.08%.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian sought the regular conduct of the Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey to better monitor the country’s literacy rates.
FLEMMS is a household-based nationwide survey conducted every five years. The poll conducted in 2019 was the sixth since it started in 1989.
Gatchalian asked the Philippine Statistics Authority if it is possible to shorten the interval between FLEMMS surveys.
“FLEMMS is not only used by the Second Congressional Commission on Education, but also by the Literacy Coordinating Council to monitor literacy rates in our country, and by local government units to gauge the type of literacy programs that they should implement,” he said.
“It’s an important tool but a five-year gap is a very long time,” the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education added.
Dr. Dennis Mapa, national statistician, said that the agency sought a budget for the conduct of another survey after considering the impact of the Covid19 pandemic on literacy but the request was not granted.
The PSA, however, will push through with the conduct of the FLEMMS next year.
Mapa added that in its next meeting, the PSA board will explore the possibility of shortening the five-year gap in conducting the FLEMMS. He said that a three-year cycle for conducting the FLEMMS could be a reasonable option.
The PSA official cited the example of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, which was previously done every three years but now comes out every two years.
Aside from shortening the interval on the conduct of the FLEMMS, Gatchalian also raised the possibility of making the data more granular by conducting the survey all the way to the city level.
Mapa said that this can be done but would require increased budgetary requirements. A cycle of the FLEMMS costs around P60 million, he said.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday urged the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to come up with a program that will professionalize barangay workers, including day care workers and teachers.
Gatchalian cited the examples of the Barangay Health Services and Community Nutrition Services program, both of which are National Certificate (NC) II courses.
“My suggestion is to come up with a program and let’s expand it to some of the barangay-based workers, including day care teachers and the other barangay employees. Ngayon kasi meron na tayo for barangay health workers and barangay nutrition scholars,” said Gatchalian.
“Our day care workers are not certified. They are trained through practice. A lot of them do not have stability of tenure, but they’ve been there for years. ‘Yung iba sa kanila andyan na for 30, 40 years and they want to be professionalized. At least let’s give them a chance to be recognized and certified,” Gatchalian added.
The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education has been pushing for the professionalization of child development workers and teachers.
Under the Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act or Senate Bill No. 2029, Gatchalian proposed that cities and municipalities shall be mandated to create plantilla positions for CDTs and CDWs.
The proposed measure also mandates local government units to promote and encourage their professional development.
The Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act mandates the Early Childhood Care and Development Council to ensure the alignment between the ECCD curriculum and the basic education curriculum.
It also imposes greater responsibilities on LGUs on the implementation of ECCD programs.
Data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development shows that there are 78,693 CDWs in the country.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian filed a measure that seeks to redefine the application of the Mother Tongue as medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3.
Senate Bill 2457 will amend Sections 4 and 5 of Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.
The senator said the Philippines is a highly multilingual society and data from the 2020 Census of Population and Housing showed that there are about 245 languages in the country.
However, the Department of Education covers only 19 languages in implementing MTB-MLE or only eight percent of the total languages reported in the census.
Gatchalian said that some of the widely spoken languages such as Boholano, Masbateno, and Kankanaey are not among the 19 languages used by the DepEd in the program.
“I propose this legislation to remedy and seek the faithful implementation of MTB-MLE under the RA 10533 by redefining its application to monolingual classes from Kindergarten to Grade 3,” he said.
“This will result in reverting Section 7, Article 14 of the 1987 Constitution on the Medium of Instructions to be used in key stage 1,” the senator stressed. The section states that for purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino, and until otherwise provided by law, English.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian filed a measure that seeks to establish guidelines on the establishment and operation of local universities and colleges.
Senate Bill 2445 or the Local Universities and Colleges Governance Act requires a local government unit to obtain institutional recognition from the Commission on Higher Education prior to the enactment of an ordinance creating an local university or college.
This would ensure that LUCs meet the minimum standards for quality education.
The senator said CHEd found that nearly three in every 10 LUCs operate without institutional recognition.
Gatchalian said there has been a growing demand for higher education in the country and the increase in the number of LUCs has addressed this demand.
He added concerns have been raised regarding governance, sustainability and quality standards in local institutions.
He said that the Philippine Institute for Development Studies has found that the leadership in LUCs is weakened by the three-year election cycle, leading to policy discontinuity, insufficient resource management and ineffective investment strategies
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATORS Sherwin Gatchalian and Joel Villanueva said that the government wasted an estimated P2.77 billion on community-based scholars of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority who did not undergo assessment.
“If you look at the data…community-based ay napakalaki ng total, eh,” Villanueva said, pointing out TESDA’s data that 36.21 percent of their graduates come from community-based programs.
Villanueva also noted that out of the 44,000 clients enrolled in community-based TESDA programs this year, only 17,995 were able to graduate.
Out of that number, only 4,086 obtained a Certificate of Competency, and, from that set, only 3,937 were awarded a National Certificate.
“What happened to the balance?”Villanueva asked.
“The government paid for the training, they went to our scholarship program, but in the end, they were not assessed, therefore the training becomes useless. Because without assessment and CoC, how can they get a job?” Gatchalian said.
TESDA Deputy Director General Aniceto Bertiz III pointed out that the agency is facing a challenge in scheduling assessments, as well as lacking in the number of assessors to conduct these assessments.
TESDA has 7,593 assessors.
Villanueva said that considering that there is an estimated 1.5 million clients in the entire TVET sector in the country, the number would amount to 197 clients per assessor.
“Ang point ko lang, kulang na kulang ‘yung assessors,” Villanueva said.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday urged the government to intensify its efforts to combat the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, following a report by the Department of Information and Communications Technology that the Philippines ranks second globally in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
Earlier, Gatchalian said he was shocked at the Philippines’ world ranking on the OSAEC hotspot list.
“We should really try very hard to get us out of that rank of being number two in the world on OSAEC, and even get us out of that list,” said Gatchalian.
“Aside from the hardware and tools that we need, there are things we can enact quickly to improve communication and coordination to share information as quickly as possible,” Gatchalian added.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy attributed the prevalence of OSAEC in the country to the lack of necessary tools to identify and track down perpetrators.
DICT Assistant Secretary Mary Rose Magsaysay, meanwhile, said that the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center is working with the University of the Philippines to translate materials that would raise awareness, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
The DICT is also working with telecommunication companies to block child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.
The Scale of Harm Survey by International Justice Mission and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab estimates that 471,416 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual exploitation material in 2022.
Gatchalian co-authored two laws that strengthen the government’s capacity to crack down on OSAEC: the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act or Republic Act 11930 and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022 or Republic Act 11862.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian called on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to address its low enrollment rate, the lowest nationwide.
“Bring the kids to school and retain them,” Gatchalian said.
In a Senate hearing on the preparedness of basic education schools, Gatchalian pointed to the low participation rates in BARMM, which are also lower than the nationwide averages.
During School Year 2020-2021, the participation rate in Kindergarten in BARMM stood at 53 percent, notably lower than the nationwide average of 66 percent.
Similarly, in elementary education, the regional participation rate was 69 percent as opposed to 89 percent nationwide.
The participation rates in junior and senior high school further plummeted to 37 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
In contrast, the nationwide participation rates for junior and senior high school during SY 2020-2021 were considerably higher at 81 percent and 49 percent, respectively.
Gatchalian also pointed out the low cohort survival rate in BARM saying that for every 100 learners in the region who enter Grade 1, only 17 graduate from Grade 12.
“I believe that the first order of business in BARMM is to promote schooling and the second order is to retain learners in school. During my discussions with BARMM governors, it became apparent that many children in the region drop out of school to help out in their families’ farms. They’re forced to work at an early age because of poverty. But, of course, in the long run, the situation may not be conducive to their long-term well-being,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education.
Gatchalian previously pushed for an enhanced back-to-school program to increase enrollment in the region.
He also sought to strengthen the implementation of the Alternative Learning System in the region to enhance the skills and abilities of the current working population, as well as out-of-school children and youth.
By Dang Samson Garcia
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian sought the creation and filling of more plantilla positions under the Early Childhood Care and Development Council to ensure the effective implementation of ECCD programs.
Gatchalian said that there are only 15 plantilla positions under the ECCD Council which prevents the body from effectively engaging local government units.
Under Republic Act 10410 or the Early Years Act of 2013, the ECCD Council is mandated to implement the National ECCD System, which covers the full range of health, nutrition, early education, and social services development programs for the basic holistic needs of children until the age of four.
“We need to increase plantilla positions so we can engage local government units faster. Without the manpower, we cannot mobilize our local government units to strengthen ECCD in the country, to achieve universal coverage, and to produce high-quality child development teachers and workers,” Gatchalian said.
He proposed the reallocation of some of the ECCD Council’s funds for the creation of plantilla positions.He said that while the construction of National Child Development Centers is not a mandate of the ECCD Council, the National Expenditure Program 2024 allocates P170 million under the ECCD Council’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.
The senator suggested using some of these funds to create plantilla positions for the ECCD Council, whose functions also include the development of a national system for early identification, screening, and surveillance of young children aged zero to four.
Gatchalian earlier filed the Basic Education and Early Childhood Education Alignment Act or the Senate Bill 2029 to strengthen ECCD in the country.