Marcos Jr. signs laws establishing Special Baguio High Schools for Sports, Arts

BAGUIO CITY (January 13, 2025) -- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed laws establishing the Baguio City Sports High School and Baguio City High School for the Arts, catering to talented youth in Baguio, the Cordilleras, and across Northern Luzon.

On January 3, Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act (RA) 12119, which mandates the creation  of  the  Baguio  City  Sports  High  School  that  shall  offer  sports-focused education, and RA 12118, which establishes the Baguio City High School for the Arts intended to "promote the sustained development of young Filipinos whose aptitude and skills in culture and the arts shall be properly encouraged and honed through education and specialized training programs.

Welcoming the laws approval, Baguio lawmaker Mark Go, primary author and sponsor said, “these (are) well-deserved  development  in  providing  an avenue  for talented youth in Baguio and the greater Northern Luzon area to hone their skills and nurture outstanding talent in the country.” He added, “we  thank  President  Ferdinand  Marcos  Jr.  for  recognizing  the  importance  of establishing these specialized high schools in the country in order to provide the proper support and training for our promising young athletes and artists, as we help open doors for greater opportunities.”

RA 12119 mandates the Baguio City Sports High School to implement a general secondary education curriculum as prescribed by the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 to students with potential in sports, in addition to developing learners’ athletic skills through subjects related to physical education and sports.

This specialized high school for sports shall be administered by the Department of Education (DepEd) in coordination with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the National Academy for Sports (NAS). It shall be administered and operated in accordance with the policies, guidelines and criteria to be issued by the NAS System Board of Trustees.

While, RA 12118 establishes the Baguio City High School for the Arts, which will  also  implement  a  general  secondary  education  curriculum  administered  and supervised by the DepEd, in close coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

The NCCA and CCP will provide policy direction and technical assistance to the school through the DepEd Cordillera Administrative Region Regional Office and the Schools Division Office of Baguio City.

Initial funds for the schools shall be allocated from this year’s appropriation of the Schools Division Office of Baguio City, while subsequent funds for their operations shall be included in the annual national budget.

Rep. Go added that the Baguio City sports high school comes at an exciting time for Philippine sports, after the successful performance of the Philippines at the 2024 Paris  Olympics,  the  highest-ranking  Southeast  Asian  country  finishing  with  four medals, including Carlos Yulo’s historic two gold medals.

Meanwhile, Go said  that the arts-centered  high  school was also  a milestone for Baguio City, which  was the first  Philippine  city to be  inducted into the  UNESCO Creative Cities  Network  in  2017.   According  to  Go,  a  formal  academic  institution focused on the arts would help ensure long-term sustainability in the creative sector, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.