Joint Statement of Philippine Book Publishing Industry Associations on the Proposed

Suspension of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE)

The move to remove Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) from the
educational system, as proposed in the House of Representatives 1, will further regress the
strides gained in Philippine education. We, a group of concerned publishers, appeal to
policymakers to, instead of halting the MTB-MLE Policy until the system is ready, provide
intervention in mitigating the challenges of implementation. Sustaining implementation
encourages the private sector to continuously create learning materials in the Mother Tongue
(MT) language, which the public schools will consequently acquire. Mitigating initiatives
include allocation of funds for the MTB-MLE operational activities, and reinforcing the
implementation in the regional areas down to the school level.

At the center of MTB-MLE is the thrust to prioritize learners’ needs by meeting learners where
they are, in every region in the Philippines. The withdrawal of support from, and the overall
suspension of implementation of the Multilingual Education Policy can result only in the
substantial weakening of the educational system as a whole.

The current phase of implementing the MTB-MLE policy is in its infancy, and is experiencing
growing pains that must be identified, monitored, and addressed. Only by identifying and
addressing implementation challenges, creating strategic plans to mitigate them, and then
monitoring the impact on the field, can the educational system improve its operationalization
of the policy.

Identified Issues
Fortunately, there are already several rigorous research studies 2 that have identified the most
critical challenges, and have provided evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the
implementation of the MTB-MLE Education Policy. Some of the problems identified are 1) the
lack of earmarked and specific funds for operational activities; 2) dialectical differences where
learners and teachers are subjected by the policy to use an MT similar to, but distinct from,
their actual MT; and 3) insufficiency of learning materials available. A 2019 landmark study
conducted by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (Monje, Orbeta, Francisco-
Abrigo, & Capones, 2019) in particular offers a process evaluation of the MTB-MLE
implementation, with a focus on providing a series of recommendations to strengthen the
operationalization of MTB-MLE policies.

Recommendations
While Monje et al. recommend the creation and continuous acquisition of updated and
localized learning materials in MT, their study also strongly recommends the allocation of funds
for MTB-MLE operational activities on top of funds earmarked for the procurement of learning
materials. School staff are forced to compete for limited available funding from their local
government unit’s maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to fund localization
activities and monitoring services. There are recommendations to implement more stringent
monitoring at the regional level, the systematic use of language mapping to determine the
medium of instruction, and the provision of more support and financial resources for MTB-
MLE Focal Persons at the division level. Studies urge the reinforcement of the implementation
and operationalization of the policy down to the school level, which may involve even producing
assessments and examinations in the local languages, and equipping teachers with materials
aligned with the curriculum in the MT.

While the amount of materials available for MTB-MLE is extremely small compared to the
number of materials available for English and Filipino, if the publishers in the private sector
are given proper support by the government, they would be able to catch up in the production.
The PIDS study recommends fostering mutually beneficial partnerships among local
governments, schools, and the private sector to collaborate on localization efforts. This
1 See H.B. 2188, 19th Cong. (2022); H.B. 3925, 19th Cong. (2022).
2 See Metila, R., et al. (2017). “Investigating best practice in Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in the
Philippines, Phase 3 progress report: Strategies of exemplar schools.”; Monje, J. D., et al. (2019). “‘Starting Where the Children
Are’: A Process Evaluation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Implementation.”; Williams, A.B, et al. (2014).
“Strategies and challenges in MTB-MLE implementation in the early years (Phase 1 Progress Report).”
recommendation addresses the challenge of finding suitable material with which to teach MTB-
MLE as a subject, and with which to teach using MT as part of the Multilingual Education
Policy.

Several government agencies are already providing systematic interventions to streamline the
collaboration between the public and the private sector. Currently, the Department of
Education (DepEd) is working to refine the policy for the Evaluation, Selection, and Acquisition
for Supplementary Learning Resources. The National Book Development Board (NBDB) also
recognizes the lack of materials available for MTB-MLE, and has developed programs to provide
grants for writing, translation, and publication. These programs support, on a sustained level,
the whole book ecosystem: encouraging authors to write materials in their own regional
language; incentivizing translators to translate the vast number of books available in English
or Filipino into local languages; and awarding grants to regional publishers to catch up with
the quantity of materials available in English and Filipino.

The provision of a specific budget for the operationalization of MTB-MLE initiatives will also
open opportunities to grow attached creative sectors. From the private sector, emergent
publishers like Kasing-kasing Press and Aklat Alamid produce books and learning materials
in Philippine languages aside from Filipino and English, but these publishers are few and far
between. More support, and strategic interventions are vital to growing the publishing
industry’s capacity to adequately respond to the demand of the Multilingual Education Policy.

Key private sector producers like publishers and other creative industry stakeholders largely
rely on the government’s procurement of educational materials. Business entities will not risk
producing materials if there is no assurance of purchase; similarly, the government cannot
procure enough MTB-MLE materials if nothing is being produced. Only by sustaining the
implementation of the policy will the private sector be encouraged to continue producing
materials. Halting implementation not only damages the educational sector, it also prevents
the private sector from producing more books that are contextually appropriate. Therefore,
suspending implementation of the policy to wait until the system is ready - when there are
already enough materials for MTB-MLE - will only have the opposite effect.

Hence, instead of halting the MTB-MLE Policy implementation, mitigating the risks and
challenges already identified is a more ideal solution while continuously executing the law. The
private sector, with proper support from the government, shall continue producing the
materials needed by learners and teachers. Likewise, a more stringent monitoring of the
implementation at the regional level, as well as conducting language mapping to determine the
appropriate medium of instruction needs to be done by the policy implementers themselves.

Atty. Andrea Pasion-Flores Jose Paolo M. Sibal Atty. Dominador D. Buhain

President President President
Book Development Association of Philippine Educational Publishers Philippine Book Development
the Philippines Association of the Philippines Federation, Inc
(BDAP) (PEPA) (PHILBOOK)
 WORKS CITED

Metila, R., Pradilla, L. A., & Williams, A. (2017). Investigating best practice in Mother Tongue-
Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines, Phase 3 progress report:
Strategies of exemplar schools. Report prepared for Australian Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade and Philippine Department of Education. Melbourne and Manila: Assessment,
Curriculum and Technology Research Centre (ACTRC).

Monje, J. D., Orbeta, A. C., Francisco-Abrigo, K. A., & Capones, E. M. (2019). ‘Starting Where
the Children Are’: A Process Evaluation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education
Implementation. Quezon City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

Williams, A.B, Metila, R.A, Pradilla, L.A.S & Digo, M.M.B. (2014). Strategies and challenges in
MTB-MLE implementation in the early years (Phase 1 Progress Report). Quezon City: University
of the Philippines and University of Melbourne.