THE HOUSE Commitee on Basic Education led by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo has adapted House Resolution 910 seeking to integrate foreign language studies, other than English, in the school curriculum.

House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan, author of the resolution, said that learning foreign language will be optional.

The Department of Education confirmed that foreign languages are being taught in 296 schools from Grades 7 to 10.

These include Korean, Chinese, Mandarin and Japanese.

In his House Resolution 910, Libanan said Filipino students can draw inspiration from national hero Jose Rizal, who developed a passion to learn foreign languages.

“Our school system by tradition has been teaching Filipino children to emulate and aspire to be like Rizal. We might as well encourage them to study foreign languages, just like Rizal,” he said.

“The whole world has become a global village with multilingual labor markets, thus creating a strong demand for workers with foreign language skills,” Libanan said.