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Fully implement GMRC to prevent bullying in schools: Sen. Win Gatchalian expresses alarm over the increasing incidence of bullying among Filipino school children nationwide. Gatchalian, who presided over a public hearing conducted by the Committee on Basic Education Tuesday, April 8, 2025, said the Philippines has recorded the highest incidence of bullying across 75 countries in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and 2022 PISA. He said the Senate conducted a hearing on bullying in 2023 but the impact was low. “One of the interventions of the Senate is the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) and I really believe in that. That is why, that’s the only subject in the whole list of subjects of the Department of Education (DepEd) that is legislated. It’s a law because we believe that GMRC would help address bullying by inculcating good manners and right conduct at the beginning of the schooling of the child,” Gatchalian explained. However, he said GMRC was implemented only in Grades 1, 4 and 7 for school year 2024-2025. According to the GMRC implementing rules and regulations (IRR), the subject should be fully implemented by 2022-2023. “Teach small children good manners and right conduct. If we do not implement this… 10 years, 20 years from now, we will still have the same problem. We will see same videos (with acts of violence) that we see now,” Gatchalian warned. Republic Act No. 11476 or the GMRC and Values Education Act replaces the existing curriculum with a focus on teaching good manners, right conduct, and ethical values, emphasizing the need for qualified teachers and a whole school approach, and requiring annual review and assessment to ensure effectiveness. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau).