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An Act Amending Section One of the Republic Act Numbered Seven Hundred Nine, Entitled "An Act Declaring Obligatory the Teaching of Spanish in All Courses of Public and Private Universities and Colleges in the Philippines"

Year:

1957

Category:

Other

Date Approved:

June 22, 1957

Summary

Plain-language AI-assisted summary — not the official text. As of July 1, 2026. Read the full text below or on the official source.

This Act amends the previous Republic Act No. 709 to make the teaching of Spanish obligatory in all public and private universities and colleges in the Philippines. It specifies the required number of units for students and outlines exceptions for those who have already completed language requirements before the Act's approval.

Full Text


REPUBLIC ACT No. 1881

An Act Amending Section One of the Republic Act Numbered Seven Hundred Nine, Entitled "An Act Declaring Obligatory the Teaching of Spanish in All Courses of Public and Private Universities and Colleges in the Philippines"

Repealed by Republic Act No. 5182

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1. Section one of the Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred nine is amended to read as follows:

Section 2. This Act shall take effect beginning with the school year 1957-1958.

Approved: June 22, 1957.


"Sec. 1. The teaching of Spanish is hereby declared obligatory in all the universities and colleges, public and private, and all students shall be required to complete twelve units, at least, in the said subject: Provided, However, That in the courses of Law, Commerce, Liberal Arts, Foreign Service and Education, the students shall be required to complete at least twenty-four units without increasing the number of years required at present for the completion of such sources, which twenty-four units shall include the teaching of the following in their original Spanish versions, be wit, Mabini's Memorias de la Revolucion Filipina; a compilation of the outstanding speeches in the Congress of Malolos of the First Philippine Republic; and a compilation of the great poems of Jose Rizal, Cecilio Apostol, Fernando Ma. Guerrero, Jose Palma, Claro M. Recto, Jesus Balmori, Manuel Bernabe, Flavio Zaragoza Cano, Pacifico Victoriano, and other notable Filipino poets, specially poems of patriotic and nationalistic character as well as those depicting the Philippine scene, the said compilations to be undertaken by the Secretary of Education, the head of the department of Spanish in the University of the Philippines, and the head of the department of Spanish in any private university who shall be chosen by the Secretary of Education: Provided, further, That this shall not include students who, before the approval of this Act, have already obtained units in other foreign languages in order to satisfy existing requirements regarding other foreign languages, in which case said students can continue studying said languages until such requirements shall have been fully satisfied: Provided, finally, That Spanish be optional to foreign students."

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Republic Acts are laws passed by the Congress of the Philippines. This content is sourced from LawPhil (lawphil.net) for reference purposes. For official and authoritative texts, please refer to the Official Gazette.