Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 217)
It derives its mandate from section five of Article XIII of the Constitution, which provides that all schools shall aim to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and to teach the duties of citizenship.
The Secretary of Public Instruction is directed to require all schools to teach the prescribed civic and ethical principles.
The Order instructs to love the country as the home of one’s people and source of happiness, and states that its defense is the primary duty, with readiness to sacrifice and die for it if necessary.
Citizens should respect the Constitution as the expression of the sovereign will, recognizing that the government is established for their safety and welfare.
Citizens are instructed to obey laws, ensure that others comply with laws, see that public officials perform their duties, pay taxes willingly and promptly, and safeguard the purity of suffrage while abiding by majority decisions.
It emphasizes that citizenship implies not only rights but also obligations, including respect for parents, honesty, justice, charity, and contribution to community welfare and social justice.
Students are encouraged to be truthful, honest, just, charitable, courteous, dignified, industrious, frugal, simple in dress and behavior, persevering, and to value honor above wealth.
It encourages not being ashamed to do manual labor, highlighting that productive toil contributes to economic security and the wealth of the nation.
The Order urges the cultivation of the habit of using goods made in the Philippines, patronizing products and trades of countrymen to promote national economic development and resource conservation.