Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri pressed for the immediate inclusion of Good Manners and Right Conduct into the curriculum of public and private schools as the Senate passed on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 1224.
“Most recently we witnessed how teenagers badly injured a balloon vendor by setting fire a bunch of balloons under which the vendor was asleep. Those teenagers are hooligans, plain and simple,” Zubiri said.
“Walang tamang motibasyon ang teenagers. Kapwa nila mahirap ay kanilang ginawan ng masama. Alam nilang nakasalalay sa mga lobo ang kabuhayan ng kapwa nila,” added the veteran legislator who filed Senate Bill No. 310 or An Act Institutionalizing Good Manners And Right Conduct And Character Education In The Curriculum Of Elementary And Secondary Level.
“It is evident that the moral values and character formation of those teenagers have gone wrong. There are many examples in the news and on social media. In a twist of media use, many children, adolescents and young adults aspire to become viral by recording and posting themselves doing dastardly acts against animals, elders and other persons of the same age as them. Mga batang babae rin ay nambugbog ng kapwa nila batang babae at napakahambog na kinunan ang sarili nila ng video at nag-post para maging viral. Walang takot at hindi nahihiya na mabisto sila sa maling gawain,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“The situation calls on the school system to supplement the guidance of parents by teaching Good Manners and Right Conduct.”
“Indeed, the parents are our main mentors who mold their children to be good persons. Sadly, many are becoming absentee parents due to the traffic, their jobs and broken homes. The worse scenario is when elders in the homes, or even the parents themselves, are not good role models. Regardless of the causes of lack of quality time at home, the situation calls on the school system to supplement the guidance of parents by teaching Good Manners and Right Conduct. We need it back into the curriculum,” the senator pointed out.
“On the bigger stage, we can use GMRC as one tool in our armory against the growing ranks of terrorists. It is the tactic of terrorist groups and rogue states to recruit the very young who have yet to develop a strong moral backbone. Just as we believe in the idealism of the youth, terrorists and criminal syndicates find young minds as fertile grounds to spread their evil plans,” he emphasized.
“The teaching of GMRC will bolster the good in each child.”
“In the past, we debated on the age of discernment and when it is right to jail children. This time, let us focus resources on preventing the rise of young hooligans, criminals and terrorists. On equal measure, the teaching of GMRC will bolster the good in each child so that they will know to seek help and not fall prey to physical and sexual abuse, trafficking and modern slavery. Let’s muster our homes and schools to raise upright children who know their rights as well as responsibilities to their family, community and country,” Zubiri explained.
“The measure is a popular move such that after I filed SBN 310 in July, the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, barely five months after, had already filed Committee Report No. 27 SBN on 1224,” he concluded.