MOTION TO RATIFY
BICAMERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT

AN ACT INSTITUTING A POLICY OF INCLUSION AND SERVICES FOR LEARNERS WITH DISABILITIES IN SUPPORT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, ESTABLISHING INCLUSIVE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTERS OF LEARNERS WITH DISABILITIES IN ALL SCHOOLS DISTRICTS, MUNICIPALITIES AND CITIES, PROVIDING FOR STANDARDS, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
(SENATE BILL NO. 1907 AND HOUSE BILL NO. 8080)

December 7, 2021

Delivered by Hon. Win Gatchalian, Senator of the Republic:

Mr. President, esteemed colleagues, good afternoon.

It is my great honor to submit for ratification a copy of the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on the Disagreeing Provisions of Senate Bill No. 1907 and House Bill No. 8080, also known as the "Instituting a Policy of Inclusion and Services for Learners with Disabilities in Support of Inclusive Education Act."

After ten pre-bicam meetings, the Senate and the House panels have met and discussed to work out a reconciled version of our respective bills on two bicameral conference committee meetings held on September 1st and December 1st this year. The product of all the time and work dedicated to this bill is a landmark legislation that will deliver quality, accessible, and inclusive education to the learners with disabilities in our country, especially for those who were left behind by our basic education system.

Mr. President, various estimates suggest that there are 400,000 to 5 million children in the country who are living with disabilities. Yet for School Year 2019 to 2020, only 360,789 of these children are enrolled in DepEd schools. Access to education is hampered by the inadequacy of basic facilities, infrastructure, and transportation, among others. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, all these problems were exacerbated, our learners with disabilities were put to greater risk, and it became harder for them to access the education and services they need. In fact, enrollment among learners with disabilities remains far from pre-pandemic levels. For School Year 2020-2021, enrollment among learners with disabilities is only at 93,895, representing a 74% decline from pre-pandemic enrollment levels.

At the heart of this legislation is the policy of inclusion which is instituted in all early and basic education schools. All schools, whether public or private, are mandated to ensure equitable access to quality education to every learner with disability, such that no learner shall be denied admission on the basis of disability. The implementing rules and regulations are also required to provide the minimum services and conditions that must be included in the admissions systems and policies of all schools, including but not limited to the provision of assistive devices, facilities and infrastructure in the admission process, and other forms of reasonable accommodation.

As we build the new normal in education, Mr. President, it is high time we ensure that no learners are left behind, including those who live with disabilities. Key to achieving this is the establishment of a national network of Inclusive Learning Resource Centers of Learners with Disabilities or ILRCs in every schools district, city or municipality. These ILRCs will implement inclusive education programs and provide free support services to our learners with disabilities, who will receive guidance from multidisciplinary teams composed of experts.

Hindi na natin dapat hayaang manatili pa ang mga sagabal o hadlang sa pangarap ng ating mga learners with disabilities at ng kanilang mga pamilya. Kung maisabatas nang ganap ang panukalang ito, maihahatid natin sa bawat kabataang may kapansanan ang abot-kamay, dekalidad, at angkop na edukasyon at mga serbisyo upang makamit nila ang mas magandang kinabukasan.

At this point, Mr. President, I would like to thank the stakeholders--the non-government and civil society organizations who worked with us to help make this measure implementable and truly responsive to the needs of our learners with disabilities. We have the Allied Members of the Coalition for the Education of Children and Youth With Disabilities, Save the Children Philippines, E-Net Philippines, Coalition for the Education of Learners With Disabilities, Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Deaf Education Council, Deaf-Blind Support Philippines, Philippine National Association of Sign Language Interpreters, Asian Federation on Intellectual Disabilities, and Philippine Coalition for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I also would like to thank the Department of Education Bureau of Learning Delivery-Student Inclusion Division, the Valenzuela Special Education Center, the Early Childhood Care and Development Council, the National Council on Disability Affairs, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, and the League of Cities of the Philippines.

From the academe, let me thank the Philippine Normal University and the University of the Philippines-College of Education.

Lastly I would like to pay homage to the late Senator Edgardo Angara. As then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, the late Senator Angara filed Senate Bill No. 3002 or the Special Education Act in 2011, a substitute bill which sought to institutionalize inclusive education through special education in all public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide. After one decade, we are closer to realizing the enactment of what was then a pioneer legislation by the esteemed senator. Like all of us in this 18th Congress, this must have also been his dream for our learners with disabilities.

Further, Mr. President, I thank the co-authors and co-sponsors of this bill - Senators Pia Cayetano, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Sonny Angara, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Cynthia Villar, Bong Revilla, Jr., Nancy Binay, Christopher "Bong" Go, Richard Gordon, Leila de Lima, Francis Tolentino, and Aquilino Pimentel III. And my deepest appreciation to my fellow conferees to the bicameral conference: Senators Pia Cayetano, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, and Sonny Angara, who were with me, threshing out almost every provision, up to the finish line. Bilang mga mambabatas, ang pagpasa natin sa panukalang batas na ito marahil ang pinakamagandang regalong maibibigay natin para sa mga learners with disabilities at kanilang mga pamilya ngayong panahon ng Kapaskuhan.

Mr. President, the comprehensive details of the disagreeing provisions are reflected in the Joint Explanatory Statement. With the permission of the Body, I move that said Joint Explanatory Statement on the Disagreeing Provisions of Senate Bill No. 1907 and House Bill No. 8080 be read in toto into the Record, and that the Bicameral Conference Committee Report be ratified. Thank you very much and good afternoon.