03 October 2012 Dearest colleagues and fellow advocates of Filipino language and culture, Greetings of peace!

Attached is a copy of a petition urging the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to consider issuing an immediate moratorium on the implementation of the senior high school/junior college and Revised General Education Curriculum (RGEC) components of the K to 12 Program which might cause the downsizing or even abolition of the Filipino departments in a number of universities (other departments would surely be downsized too). As per the K to 12 Program, there will be no Filipino subject left in the new Revised General Education Curriculum (RGEC) for the university level, as stated in presentation (29 August 2012) by DepEd Assistant Secretary Tonisito M. C. Umali, Esq. available at http://ceap.org.ph/upload/download/20129/1881921971_1.pdf Heres what the pertinent slide states:

Proponents of the K to 12 claim that Filipino subjects would be transferred to the senior high school/junior college level under the K to 12 scheme. Unfortunately, only one Filipino subject (Retorika) will be included in the senior high school/junior college curriculum as stated in the

document "K TO 12 TOOLKIT: Reference Guide for Teacher Educators, School Administrators, and Teachers (2012)" released by the SEAMEO-INNOTECH (with the DepEds imprimatur considering that DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro, FSC gave an introductory message in the document). As per this document only FILIPINO: RETORIKA will be REQUIRED! Meanwhile, Filipino for Specific Purposes is OPTIONAL! The said document is available at http://www.gov.ph/downloads/2012/201209-K-to-12-Toolkit.pdf Heres the pertinent part:

In view of the above, we have been compelled by the circumstances to initiate a petition urging DepEd and CHED to issue a moratorium on its implementation. The petition is attached for your perusal. We humbly ask your support and inclusion as signatory to this petition (at the moment, we have secured the support of 50 individuals). Our warmest thanks for your most favorable response. Sincerely yours, David Michael M. San Juan 0917-8959-434 dmmsanjuan@gmail.com

A PETITION Urging the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to consider issuing an immediate moratorium on the implementation of the senior high school/junior college and Revised General Education Curriculum (RGEC) components of the K to 12 Program (NOTE: THIS IS THE FINAL VERSION.WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS.I F Y O U S U P P O R T T H E PETITION IN PRINCIPLE, SEND YOUR NAME A N D AFFILIATION todmmsanjuan@gmail.comor 0917-8959-434 AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED SOON. WE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO SHARE/REPOST THIS AND URGE OTHERS TO SUPPORT THIS PETITION.WE HAVE SECURED THE SUPPORT OF MORE THAN 50 INDIVIDUALS, and well formally release this with the names of those who support the petition SOON As we are pressed for time to gather more support, we will ask you to formally signthe petition after we have formally released this with the namesWe will go to your offices/homes etc. as much as possible Hence, at the moment, your declarationof support will suffice. Thank you very much. YOU CAN ALSO PRINT THE ATTACHED SIGNATURE SHEETS AND INFORM US WHENEVER YOU ARE ABLE TO SECURE THE SUPPORTOFYOURCOLLEAGUES..) Whereas, it is now clear that, as per the Philippine governments K to 12 Program, a twoyear period (2016 to 2018) when there will be no college freshmen students is imminent; Whereas, the said two-year hiatus would certainly displace and/or negatively affect the employment prospects and/or opportunities for tenureship of a number of non-tenured and/or contractual instructors in higher educational institutions (HEIs), especially in private colleges and universities, considering that not all colleges and universities are ready for the so-called period of transition brought by the implementation of the K to 12 program; Whereas, a number of teachers, students, parents and other concerned individuals and entities have some misgivings on the immediate implementation of the K to 12 Program, primarily due to the fact that our current 10-year Basic Education Cycle is yet to be perfected and is indeed battered by financial and other difficulties, more especially in public schools; Whereas, it is often argued somewhat validly that the unresolved problems of the current 10-year Basic Education Cycle maybe multiplied by the sudden implementation of the K to 12 Program, especially that the Philippine governments financial resources are still inadequate to wipe out the deficiency in personnel, facilities and instructional materials under the old education cycle; Whereas, the Philippine governments budget for education is yet to reach the United Nations (UN) standard for the annual education budget (at least 6% of the countrys Gross Domestic Product/GDP, hence even after the K to 12 Program is implemented, the same old educational problems might persist, considering that the implementation of K to 12 without ample budgetary support would only stretch out the already overstretched Philippine education budget;

Whereas, the proposed college RGEC under K to 12 would somehow dilute, denigrate if not obliterate highly-important subjects in the old GEC such as Philippine History and Filipino; Whereas, a sound and comprehensive general education that includes socially-relevant subjects such as Philippine History and national language studies is important at the university level as observed from the educational practices in highly-developed countries; Whereas, any drastic curricular change must be sought not merely to cope up with global standards but more importantly to produce holistically-educated citizens who would contribute much to nation-building a goal which the K to 12 seemingly fails to address, as it in fact dilutes, denigrates, even obliterates subjects that contribute to the achievement of the aforementioned noble and constitutionally-mandated pedagogical objective; Whereas, a drastic educational reform like the implementation of the K to 12 Program needs to be discussed more comprehensively and broadly, as required by the pluralistic and democratic context of our country; NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved as it is hereby resolved that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) be urged to consider issuing an immediate moratorium on the implementation of the senior high school/junior college and Revised General Education Curriculum (RGEC) components of the K to 12 Program, to pave the way for more meaningful and broader discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of the K to 12 Program, to arrive at a more satisfactory course of action more beneficial to the common good. As a proof of our collective concurrence and resolve to support this petition, we hereby put our names and our institutional and/or organizational affiliations (for the purpose of identification only as we are joining this petition merely on our individual capacity and not to represent our particular institutions and/or organizations) below:

A PETITION Urging the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to consider issuing an immediate moratorium on the implementation

of the senior high school/junior college and Revised General Education Curriculum (RGEC) components of the K to 12 Program NAME SIGNATURE SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION/AFFILIATION/POSITION

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