MANILA, Philippines — As bullying and violence continue to raise concerns inside Philippine schools, Parañaque Rep. Brian Yamsuan is calling for a stronger and more meaningful implementation of Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) and Values Education—arguing that academic excellence alone is not enough to shape the country’s future.
Yamsuan urged the Department of Education (DepEd) and Congress to revisit and strengthen policies designed to build the moral foundation of Filipino students, stressing that GMRC should go beyond teaching etiquette and proper behavior.
The bigger goal, he said, is to help develop young Filipinos into citizens with character, responsibility and a strong sense of conscience.
The lawmaker’s appeal comes amid renewed public concern over incidents of bullying and violence involving students, including reported shootings in Zamboanga City and Tacloban City. However, Yamsuan acknowledged that GMRC alone cannot solve school violence, saying the issue requires a broader response involving schools, parents, government agencies and mental health support.
Is GMRC Being Taught—or Truly Lived?
At the center of the discussion is Republic Act No. 11476, or the GMRC and Values Education Act, which institutionalized GMRC and Values Education in the K to 12 basic education curriculum.
Under the law, GMRC is taught as a separate subject from Grades 1 to 6 and integrated into kindergarten learning activities. For Grades 7 to 10, Values Education is provided as a separate subject. The law also emphasizes practical character-building activities and collaboration between teachers, parents and communities—not simply classroom lectures about good behavior.
This distinction is important as Yamsuan pushes for a review of the program and calls for a stronger approach that could give values formation a more prominent role throughout basic education.
DepEd itself has previously described RA 11476 as an important measure for strengthening students’ decision-making skills, attitudes and behavior, reflecting the broader goal of developing learners who are not only academically capable but also socially responsible.
Yamsuan Wants Laws, Schools and Families to Work Together
Yamsuan is calling for a review of how the GMRC and Values Education Act, the Anti-Bullying Act, and student mental health policies are being implemented.
He also emphasized the need for adequate teacher training and more active participation from parents—recognizing that character formation does not begin and end when a student enters or leaves the classroom.
The message is clear: schools cannot carry the responsibility alone.
While teachers can help guide students, values are reinforced through families, communities, peer relationships and the environment young people experience every day. That makes the challenge of addressing bullying and violence far more complex than simply adding another lesson to the curriculum.
The Bigger Question for Philippine Education
The renewed debate over GMRC comes at a time when schools are under pressure to do more than improve test scores and academic performance.
Can the education system produce graduates who are highly skilled but lack empathy? Can values education make a meaningful difference if it is treated as just another subject to pass?
Those questions are now at the heart of Yamsuan’s call.
His proposal is not that GMRC is a magic solution to violence. Rather, the lawmaker argues that character formation should be treated as a serious, long-term investment alongside academic learning.
Because in the end, a student may learn mathematics, science and technology—but the question that could matter just as much is whether they also learn respect, responsibility, empathy and accountability.
As the Philippines confronts troubling incidents inside its schools, the debate is no longer simply whether children should be taught good manners. The harder question is whether the country is doing enough to turn those lessons into values that students actually carry into real life.
Why This Matters
Yamsuan’s call puts a renewed spotlight on a fundamental challenge facing Philippine education: building safer schools requires more than discipline alone. Effective prevention may require a combination of values formation, strong anti-bullying enforcement, trained educators, engaged parents and accessible student support systems.
GMRC may not be the entire answer—but the growing concern over violence and bullying suggests that simply teaching young people what is right is not enough unless schools and communities also create an environment where those values are consistently practiced and protected.
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