To: Undersecretaries and Asst. Secretaries
Bureau, Regional, Center and Service Directors
School Division and Vocational Superintendents
All Others Concerned

The Special Provision of RA No. 8174 (General Appropriations Act of 1996) provides that “In view of the implementation of R A. 8047, otherwise known as the Book Publishing Industry Development Act, one-third (1/3) of the DECS appropriation for textbooks and other instructional materials shall be procured from private sector publishers during the first year of the said Act: Provided, that such publishers are able to produce and supply the textbooks and instructional materials needed and ordered by the DECS”.
Relative thereto, the following guidelines are hereby issued to achieve the intent of this provision.

1. Materials Eligible For Purchase
   The following materials are eligible for purchase under these guidelines:
   1.1 Privately published textbooks and teachers manuals for Grades 4 to 6 and Year III and IV, which are currently in use and have been in use for at least two (2) years in an accredited private school.
   For this category, each DECS Regional Office shall issue an approved list of privately published textbooks and teachers manuals for its region after ascertaining the abovementioned criteria.
   1.2 Supplementary and reference materials which have passed evaluation by the DECS Instructional Materials Council and are included in DECS Order No. 47 s. 1996 or subsequently issued authorized supplementary/reference materials for SY 1996-1997.
   1.3 Commercial editions of textbooks currently used by DECS whose copyrights are owned by private publishers.
2. Emphasis on School-Based Needs
   To ensure that materials to be purchased are those most urgently needed by the schools, requests should originate from school principals and school heads. Quantities should, however, be regulated to ensure conformance with established ratios particularly on supplementary and reference materials.
3. Limited Coverage
   These guidelines shall apply only to the one-third (1/3) allocation provision of the GAA for 1996. Existing DECS guidelines shall apply for purchases made from funds not covered by this provision.
4. Central Office Monitoring
   For monitoring purposes, all regional offices shall provide the Central Office with the lists of authorized private textbooks and teachers manuals in their respective regions, as well as of purchases made under these guidelines. The officer authorizing such purchases shall certify that such purchases strictly adhered to these guidelines, and accounting and auditing requirements.

For strict compliance.

Reference:
DECS Order: No. 47, s. 1996
Allotment: 1-2-3—(M.O. 1-87)

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:
POLICY
PURCHASE
TEXTBOOKS

DO_s1996_068