School Health Guardian Program

November 9, 1978

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 764

 

WHEREAS, the improvement of the health of all Filipinos is a primary concern of Government; acd

WHEREAS, the public schools system is being mobilized in health improvement, through better health, nutrition and environmental education, supplementary feeding and other related activities;

WHEREAS, the School Health Guardian program has been evolved by the Ministry of Education and Culture as a means to enrich the health education and services program;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby issue the following instructions to strengthen the School Health Guardian Program: acd

1. The School Health Guardian Program is hereby declared a priority program of the national government, with the aim of educating teachers and school children in the use of medicinal plants and herbs and simple remedies for common ailments. Its activities shall be dovetailed with the supplemental school feeding, school orchard, "Alay-Tanim", population education, and other related programs of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Health and the Nutrition Center of the Philippines.

2. Pilot projects shall be identified throughout the Philippines, consisting initially of one school per Region, as follows:

a. Naguilian Central School, Naguilian, La Union

b. Paniki Elementary School, Bagabag, Nueva Viscaya

c. San Rafael Elementary School, San Marcelino, Zambales

d. Batangas South Central School, Batangas City

e. Rodriguez Elementary School, Pili, Camarines Sur

f. Guimbal Central Elementary School, Guimbal, Iloilo

g. Alicia Central Elementary School, Alicia, Bohol

h. Cabacungan Elementary School, Dulag South District, Leyte

i. Juan Bugarin Elementary School, Sindangan North District, Zamboanga del Norte cd i

j. Manolo Fortich Elementary School, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon

k. Lamian Elementary School, Surallah, South Cotabato

l. Awang Elementary School, Dinaig North District, Maguindanao

m. Parang Elementary School, Marikina, Rizal

3. In each pilot school, model curricula shall be taught incorporating the Health Guardian approach. An integrated health, nutrition, population, environment and "Alay Tanim" program, shall be evolved in a manner that suits school capability and local conditions.

4. A prefabricated schoolbuilding shall be immediately erected in each of the pilot schools mentioned in no. 2 above, to house (a) the school clinic, (b) a combination demonstration center and library, and (c) a school kitchen. The standard Bagong Lipunan type schoolbuilding shall be adapted to suitably house these activities the maximum amount of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000) being allocated for each schoolbuilding as adapted. These shall be known as the "School Health Guardian Buildings."

5. The annual schoolbuilding program shall provide for at least one School Health Guardian Building per Region, as determined by the Minister of Education and Culture.

6. In line with national emphasis on Mindanao rehabilitation and development, an additional twenty-four (24) Bagong Lipunan School Buildings shall be allocated for Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, and Cotabato City to be used as temporary warehouses in the implementation of Mindanao, the School Health Guardian and Supplementary Feeding supported by the World Food Program. These shall be converted to regular school rooms or School Health Guardian Buildings when no longer needed as temporary warehouses.

7. The budgetary allocation of the School Health Guardian Program, the "Alay Tanim" Program, Supplementary School Feeding, and other related activities, shall be specifically identified as such in the General Appropriations Bill as Key Budgetary Inclusions, for such time as these programs are considered as being of priority importance.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 9th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Eight. cdt