Basic Laws

on the
Professionalization
of
Teaching
On January 1, 1997, Presidential Decree
1006, entitled Providing for the
Professionalization of Teachers, Regulating
Their Practice in the Philippines was
proclaimed. The proclamation of PD 1006
was premised on the following:
1. “the institutions of the country have
relied upon.. teachers whose direct and
continuing interaction with the young
people and the children make them potent
forces for the development of proper
attitudes among the citizenry.”
2. “the tremendous growth of the teaching
population, comprising in the civil service
sector alone more than 300,000 teachers
deployed all over the country.”
3. “to insure that in the immediacy and
urgency of teacher recruitment, qualitative
requirements are not overlooked, it has
become necessary to regulate the teaching
profession;”
4. “teaching requires a number of years of
collegiate study, it is the only course that
it is not yet considered a profession; and
5. “in recognition of the vital role of
teachers in nation-building and as an
incentive to raise the morale of teachers,
it is imperative that they be considered as
professionals and teaching be recognized
as a profession.” (PD 1006)
PD 1006 declared a policy that teacher
education should be of the:

- Highest Quality
- Strongly oriented to Philippine conditions
and to the needs and aspirations to the
Filipino people.
Passers in the teachers’ examination were
qualified for registration as professional
teachers and were given the Professional
Teacher Certificate.
(EDCOM) came out with the finding that the
“quality of Philippine Education is declining” and
that the teachers are “at the heart of the
problem”. The EDCOM found, among others, that:

- teachers are poorly trained;

- there is low quality of students enrolled
in teacher training; and
- teaching is perceived as a poorly
esteemed profession.
Article XIV, Section 4 (5)

- “Teaching will attract and retain its

rightful share of the best available talents
through adequate remuneration and other
means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.”
Republic Act No. 7836

- Known as the Philippine Teachers

Professionalization Act of 1994. Like PD
1006, this law recognized the vital role of
teachers in nation building.
To support further the move to get “the
best and the brightest” for the teaching
profession, some significant provisions of
R.A. 7836 were amended by R.A. 9293. It
is in support of the move to hire the most
competent teachers in the classroom.