DepEd Order No. 88 s.

2010 (Revised Manual of Regulations for Private

Schools in Basic Education): Plain English / Plain Language revisions

Notes: (1) Please read my post “Plain English, Plain

Language or Plain Writing for government offices and private companies in the
Philippines.” (2) I conduct seminars for government offices or private companies that want to train
their staff in Plain English. Please email me at gtgalacio@yahoo.com or text 0927-798-3138 for
details. (3) For interactive grammar exercises, please visit my “Better English resources and
exercises” website; I also have interactive quizzes on Plain English / Plain Language. (4) If the
tables do not look right, try using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. (5) These revisions are my own
and are used only to illustrate Plain English principles. If there are conflicts between my revisions
and the official DepEd Order, you must follow the Order.

The Department of Education issued the “2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private
Schools in Basic Education” through DepEd Order No. 88 s. 2010. Posted below are my plain
language revisions of this DepEd Order.

Before After

1. This Department hereby 1. We are issuing the

issues the enclosed “2010
Revised Manual of Regulations
for Private Schools in Basic
Education” (2010 Revised
Manual for brevity) for the
guidance and compliance of all
concerned stakeholders in basic
private education.
enclosed “2010 Revised
Manual of Regulations for
Private Schools in Basic
Education” (2010 Revised
Manual for brevity) for the
guidance and compliance of
all stakeholders in basic
private education.

Plain English / Plain Language revisions: Instead of “This Department,” I used “We” because it is
clear from the letterhead and logo that it’s the DepEd issuing the Order.

I deleted “hereby” since it adds nothing and nothing is lost by deleting it. (Drafting Wills, Trusts, and
Other Estate Planning Documents: A Style Manual, by Kevin D. Millard)

George Hathaway, chair of the State Bar of Michigan's Plain English Committee since 1983, says
about avoiding “hereby”:
“Law students usually write well, but when they get into actual practice, they switch. A fine example
is the word hereby. You would be amazed at how many law students know they should not use the
word hereby when writing their brief for a legal writing class; when they get out into practice,
however, there are 49 other types of documents, and in those 49 other documents, they usually use
the word hereby.”

Paragraph 1 of the Order states that for brevity, the manual should be referred to as “2010 Revised
Manual.” Yet, paragraph 4 inconsistently uses the complete title “2010 Revised Manual of
Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education.”

I deleted the modifier “concerned” since stakeholders, by definition, would be concerned.

Before After

2. Any part or provision of the 2. Any part or provision of

enclosed 2010 Revised Manual,
which may be held invalid or
declared unconstitutional, shall
not affect the effectivity and
efficiency of operation and
implementation of the remaining
parts or provisions thereof.
the 2010 Revised Manual
that may be held invalid or
declared unconstitutional
will not affect the validity
of its other parts or
provisions.

Plain English / Plain Language revisions: The expression “which may be held invalid or declared
unconstitutional” (incorrectly) uses the relative pronoun “which” instead of “that.” In formal American
English, “that” is used for restrictive clauses while “which” (surrounded by commas) is used for non-
restrictive clauses. A clause is non-restrictive if it merely provides additional information and can be
removed without changing the meaning. But in paragraph 2 of the Order, removing the “which”
clause leads to this nonsensical statement:
“Any part or provision of the enclosed 2010 Revised Manual shall not affect the effectivity and
efficiency of operation and implementation of the remaining parts or provisions thereof.”

In British English, there is no distinction between “that” and “which.” Most Filipinos, unaware of the
difference between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, use “which” instead of “that.” (I have also
made this mistake on numerous occasions.) But to achieve precision in government
communications, we must follow the American English distinction between the relative pronouns
“that” and “which.” (Please read Jose Carillo’s English Forum article “Learning to use the relative
pronouns confidently.”)

I used “will not” instead of “shall not.”

I used the single word “validity” instead of the wordy and pompous expression “effectivity and
efficiency of operation and implementation.”

I deleted “thereof.”

Before After

3. Any existing Department 3. The 2010 Revised

Circulars, Orders, Memoranda,
such as the 1992 Revised Manual
of Regulations for Private
Schools (8th edition) issued as
DECS Order No. 92. s. 1992
dated August 10, 1992, or any
parts thereof which are contrary
to or inconsistent with any
provision of the enclosed 2010
Revised Manual shall be deemed
repealed or modified accordingly.
Manual supersedes any
contrary or inconsistent
provisions of Department
Circulars, Orders,
Memoranda, such as DECS
Order No. 92. s. 1992 dated
August 10, 1992 (Revised
Manual of Regulations for
Private Schools, 8th
edition).

Plain English / Plain Language revisions: I used the word “supersedes” instead of the phrase
“repealed or modified.”

The Order incorrectly uses the word “deemed.” Bryan A. Garner, editor in chief of Black’s Law
Dictionary, in his book on language and writing says that “the word deem should create a legal
fiction, not state a truth.”
 In “Synthesis: Legal Reading, Reasoning and Writing in Canada”
(by Margaret Elizabeth McCallum, Christina L. Kunz, Deborah A. Schmedem), the authors
recommend:

Avoid use of the term “to deem” as a substitute for “to think” or “to consider”. The word means “to
treat [a thing] as being something that it is not, or possessing certain qualities it does not possess”.
In this technical sense, “deem” is used in statutes to create a legal fiction; for example, a statute that
requires applications to be originals signed by the applicant may provide that faxed applications will
be deemed to be originals.

Before After

4. The enclosed 2010 Revised 4. The 2010 Revised

Manual of Regulations for Private Manual of Regulations
Schools in Basic Education shall will take effect beginning
take effect beginning school year school year 2010-2011.
2010-2011.

Plain English / Plain Language revisions: The word “enclosed” is used four times in this Order to
modify the 2010 Revised Manual. After paragraph 1 where the word is first used, “enclosed” should
no longer have been used. All references to the 2010 Revised Manual cannot possibly refer to any
other manual. Yet, paragraph 4 inconsistently uses the complete title “2010 Revised Manual of
Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education.”

Before After
 5. Immediate dissemination of 5. We direct all stakeholders
and strict compliance with this to immediately disseminate
Order is hereby directed. and comply with this Order.

Plain English / Plain Language revisions:

“Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is hereby directed” is boilerplate
text written in the passive voice. I rewrote it using the active voice.