Ni Merlina Hernando-Malipot
Hinikayat ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) ang higher education institutions (HEIs) na panatilihin ang kanilang Filipino Departments upang patuloy na maiaalok ang mga aralin sa Filipino at Panitikan.
Naglabas si CHED Officer-in-Charge (OIC) J. Prospero De Vera ng CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 04 series of 2018 o ng “Policy on the Offering of Filipino and Panitikan Subjects in All Higher Education Programs as Part of the New General Education Curriculum” na may petsang Abril 11, 2018 alinsunod sa Supreme Court En Banc Resolution na may petsang Abril 21, 2015.
Sa nasabing ruling, inuutusan ang CHED na huwag ipatupad ang mga probisyon ng CMO No. 20 series of 2013 (The General Education Curriculum: Holistic Understandings, Intellectual and Civic Competencies) “insofar as it excluded from the curriculum for college Filipino and Panitikan as core courses.”
Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo itinalaga bilang Editor in Chief ng LSE International Development Review
Binanggit ni De Vera, sa bagong inilabas na memorandum, na ang SC Resolution “did not, however, enjoin the Commission from implementing and enforcing the CMO No. 20 s. of 2013, hence provisions of the said Memorandum, except the exclusion of Filipino and Panitikan as core courses, will still be implemented.”
Samantala, hinimok ni De Vera ang lahat ng HEIs na “implement as part of all baccalaureate degree programs,” ang minimum requirements “insofar as Filipino and Panitikan courses are concerned.” Binanggit din niya ang CHED Memorandum Order No. 59 s. of 1996 gayundin ang CMO No. 4 s. of 1997 bilang basehan ng policy.
Binanggit ni De Vera na “as to those fields of study, which are related to Humanities, Social Sciences, and Communications,” dapat ay mayroong minimum na nine (9) units ng Filipino at six (6) units ng Literature.
Sa mga estudyante na may major sa ibang fields, sinabi ni De Vera na maaaring sundin ng HEIs ang minimum requirements na six (6) units para sa Filipino at “Literature as e.g. in Humanities subjects.”
Sinabi ni De Vera na ang HEIs at mga kinauukulang opisyal ay inaasahang sumunod sa bagong polisiya “until further notice from the Commission.”
