SEN. Panfilo Lacson has filed a bill seeking to make sure that Filipinos learn good manners and right conduct (GMRC) during their formative years in school — from Kindergarten to Grade 3 — amid his observation that today’s youth no longer know GMRC due to technology.
“In order to create a balance, it is necessary for our educational system to aid the Filipino family in imparting good manners and right conduct to our young students by its inclusion in the curriculum at the beginning of their school years,” Lacson said in Senate Bill 1185.
Similar bills were also filed by Senators Joel Villanueva and Sherwin Gatchalian last month, and Juan Miguel Zubiri at the opening days of the 18th Congress last July.
Lacson said modern technology has threatened to impact on the social skills and manners of Filipino youth, adding that Education Secretary Leonor Briones has warned “technology without good manners is a disaster” as empathy, compassion and humanity cannot be learned in an “online or technology-driven pedagogy.”
Lacson said his bill aims to balance the effects of gadgets and devices by honing the youths’ attitude, values and perception with good manners during their formative years.
He said GMRC shall inculcate among the students the concepts of “human dignity, respect for oneself and giving oneself to others in the spirit of community, for the effective and holistic development of the decision-making skills of the child.”
Under the bill, the curriculum shall also focus on the basics of GMRC, including caring for oneself, giving concern for others, according proper respect to people, upholding discipline and order, cultivating sincerity, honesty, obedience, and love for country.
