WHEREAS, BRENT SCHOOL is a domestic educational institution established primarily for the teaching of children and/or dependents of foreign residents and as such is exempt from the provisions of Sub-section (7) of Article XV, Section B of the Constitution;

WHEREAS, in view of the widening diplomatic, trade and commercial relations as well as the attendant international interaction of the Philippines with various countries of the world, it is essential that educational institutions providing media of instruction responsive to the varying needs of people of diverse origins, races and orientations at standards that can command world recognition be encouraged, if not established;

WHEREAS, BRENT SCHOOL, since its incorporation in 1954, has efficiently served and adequately responded to the educational needs of its students who are children of foreign nationals and expatriates from all over the world;

WHEREAS, the services and instructions provided by BRENT SCHOOL to its students of foreign parentage in reality vest in such school the character and attributes of an educational institution of international character, level and dimension;

WHEREAS, to encourage and enable BRENT SCHOOL to pursue its mission of providing and maintaining a high standard of instruction proven to be suitable to the foreign components of its studentry and to enable it to pursue its objectives and purposes more effectively with a minimum of bureaucratic constraint, it is necessary to clothe it with special prerogatives and character.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order that:

SECTION 1. BRENT SCHOOL shall henceforth be an educational institution of international character and as such shall be classified and treated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports as a school of special character composed of an international student body and faculty and with a management-scheme, funding, program, curriculum structure and academic standards separate and distinct from those normally under the control and supervision of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports;

SECTION 2. To enable BRENT SCHOOL to continue implementing, executing or improving its curricular standards and educational program, it shall:

a. determine its own curriculum, standards and medium of instruction, teach whatever language or languages it may deem proper and determine the amounts, categories and kinds of fees and assessments it may impose on its students and the compensation of its teachers, consultants, employees and necessary personnel to enable it to maintain the standard of education it has adopted;

b. determine the kind and number of personnel it may hire or utilize and to determine their respective designations and qualifying requirements;

c. select, appoint, employ, designate, dismiss and/or discipline its own teachers, instructors, professors, consultants, managers and employees including scholars of whatever nationality. Foreign nationals so selected, appointed, employed or designated shall be exempted from laws or regulations otherwise applicable to aliens seeking entry into the Philippines; provided that such exemption shall not cover said foreign nationals liability for income taxes or for penal offense(s) punishable under Philippine laws;

d. to determine, adopt, formulate, administer and execute its own rules relating to acceptance and/or expulsion of scholars or students and employment of teachers/instructors, professors, consultants or other school personnel and those relating to the Administration and conduct of its affairs, operations or programs provided they do not transgress Philippine laws;

e. whenever necessary, in order to carry out its objectives, have the right to obtain leases on properties, real or personal, tangible or intangible, or any interest in such properties, either by purchase, lease, barter, donation, gift or otherwise and to transfer, dispose of, mortgage or encumber the same for the benefit of such school;

f. establish its own school calendar and work-schedules to maximize efficiency and maintain, enhance, improve and promote the quality of education or instruction it has adopted for the benefit of its students;

g. maintain standards of education compatible, if not superior to those obtaining in similar schools of recognized international standing;

h. endeavour to promote international friendship, goodwill and understanding among its students as well as among members of the foreign community and citizens of the Philippines; and

i. not prescribe subjects or provide instruction derogatory to the Philippines and the Filipinos nor designed to undermine or subvert its institutions and government.

SECTION 3. Foreign scholars, trainees, participants, students, fellows or professors appointed, selected, hired employed or otherwise by BRENT SCHOOL shall be allowed entry as special non-immigrants under Section 47 (a) (2) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended, and as such shall be exempted from the payment of visa and immigration fees; Provided, however, that such persons are holders of valid passports and are not otherwise disqualified from entering the Philippines.

SECTION 4. All laws, decrees, orders, rules or regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 31st day of January in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-six.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines

By the President:

JUAN C. TUVERA
Presidential Executive Assistant