Adopt a School Program

One way for the private sector and civic organizations like the Rotary Club of Manila to help improve the amenities and uplift the status of public schools in the country is by adopting a school. Through an adopt-a-school program, a Rotary Club is able to, among others, add useful facilities like toilets, beautify the school premises, build classrooms, upgrade its sports facilities, or donate additional laboratory equipment.

Notably, the National Government itself recognizes the importance of encouraging “private companies and enterprises to help in the upgrading and modernization of public schools in the country, especially those in the poverty-stricken provinces.” Because of this, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act (R.A.) 8525 in February 1998, which declared “the policy of the State to provide quality and relevant education to the Filipino youth and to encourage private initiative to support public education.”

R.A. 8525 formally established the "Adopt-a-School Program" which encourages the private sector, especially business entities, “to assist a public school, whether elementary, secondary, or tertiary, preferably located in any of the twenty (20) poorest provinces identified by the Presidential Council for Countryside Development or any other government agency tasked with identifying the poorest provinces in, but not limited to, the following areas: staff and faculty development for training and further education; construction of facilities; upgrading of existing facilities, provision of books, publications and other instructional materials; and modernization of instructional technologies.”

The enclosure to the Department of Education’s Order 24, series of 2016, relevantly gives the following definitions in relation to R.A. 8525:

a. "Private Sector partner" shall refer to an individual engaged in trade or business or in the practice of his/her profession or to business organizations, like corporations, partnerships or cooperatives who/which partners with the DepEd towards providing much needed assistance and services to all public schools.

b. "Assistance" shall refer to the aid/help/contribution/donation provided by a Private Sector partner to public schools implementing the K to 12 Program. Assistance may be in the form of, but not limited to, infrastructure, real estate property, use of facilities, training and skills development support, funding, consultancy, logistics, technology support, and equipment.

To incentivize private entities to meaningfully participate in this noble partnership arrangement, the law expressly grants an adopting entity for the “Adopt-A-School Program” the right, for taxation purposes, to make an allowable deduction equivalent to 50% of the expenses incurred (for the program) from its gross income. For the private partners to fully and immediately benefit from this incentive, the Department of Education, in its Department Order 24, series of 2016, specifically instructed that “all applications for the availment of tax incentives shall be processed expeditiously and efficiently, and shall be given priority attention. All private sector partners planning to avail of tax incentives should be advised to immediately complete all documentation requirements for submission to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.”

Moreover, the law also entitles the adopting company or enterprise, in addition to the incentive, to have its name emblazoned beneath the name of the school after words indicating that the school is under the "Adopt-a-School Program."

As we can see, the law and the guidelines issued by both the Department of Education and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (cf., Revenue Regulations 10-2003) clearly express the intent to truly give the private partner the incentives and recognition that they deserve whenever they join hands with the Government in improving the state of our public schools and our educational system as a whole.