EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 27 July 4, 1986
EDUCATION TO MAXIMIZE RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.
WHEREAS, the past regime was characterized by numerous violations of human rights;
WHEREAS, to gain greater respect for human rights and to deter violations thereof, there is an urgent need to educate the people about these rights, the serious consequences of, and the avenues of redress from violations thereof;
WHEREAS, the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, primarily tasked to assist the President in the discharge of her duty to respect and foster human rights, has recommended that the system of formal and informal education be utilized for the aforesaid purposes.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, do hereby order:
1. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall include the study and understanding of human rights in the curricula of all levels of education and training in all schools in the country, adapting the scope and treatment of the subjects or courses on human rights to the respective educational levels. It shall likewise initiate and maintain regular programs and special projects to provide venues for information and discussion of human rights including the utilization of informed education and other means to stress the importance of respect therefor.
2. The Civil Service Commission shall include in the qualifying examinations for government service basic knowledge on human rights.
3. In the formulation and creation of courses or subjects on human rights to be included in the school curriculum or other educational or training programs to implement and carry out the directives herein including the writing, printing and publication of textbooks and other reading materials relative thereto, the ministry or agencies concerned shall consult and coordinate with the Presidential Committee on Human Rights and shall at all times emphasize the following principles on human rights, and the laws and rules governing the same, to wit:
a) All persons are born with human dignity and inherent rights. No one losses his dignity and these rights regardless of what he or she may have done and no matter what his or her political convictions may be.
b) Torture, other cruel and degrading treatment or punishment, unexplained or forced disappearances and extra-legal executions (salvaging) are crimes, punishable by Philippine laws under any and all circumstances.
c) Anyone may, by himself or on behalf of a person arrested or detained, question the legality of the arrest and detention before the appropriate court.
d) The Bill of Rights as adopted in toto in the Provisional Constitution under the Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 or in the New Constitution when ratified, including the jurisprudential ramifications thereof.
e) Prisoners shall be treated with humanity. Juvenile prisoners shall be kept, if the jail will admit of it, in apartments separate from those containing prisoners of more than eighteen years of age; and the different sexes shall be kept apart. The visits of parents and friends who desire to exert a moral influence over prisoners shall at all reasonable times be permitted under proper regulations.
f) Convicted prisoners may be assigned to work suitable to their age, sex and physical condition.
g) Articles 124 to 131, 235, 245, 267 to 269 of the Revised Penal Code.
h) Republic Act No. 857.
i) Rules 113 and 126 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure.
j) The Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners as adopted by the Department (now Ministry) of Justice on January 7, 1959; the Ministry of Justice Manual on the general rules, policies and operations principles adherent to in the prison service.
4. If found appropriate and practicable by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, after considering the needs and capabilities of the students in the different educational levels, subjects or courses dealing with international conventions, agreements, declarations or covenants on human rights which were ratified by the Philippines or to which it is a signatory, shall be included in the curricula.
5. This Order shall be initially implemented within the framework of the budget of the MECS for 1986. As far as practicable, the funds required therefor shall be drawn from its appropriations for policy formulation, program planning, standard development and instructional materials developments.
The Ministry of Budget and Management, after consultation with the MECS, shall recommend to the President for her approval the necessary changes or modifications in the expenditure items in the 1986 budget of the MECS to accommodate the expenditures to be incurred in the implementation hereof.
Subsequent expenditures in the implementation hereof for the succeeding years shall be accordingly incorporated in the annual budget of the MECS.
6. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately. lawphi1.net
Done in the City of Manila, this 4th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-six.
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