TL;DR: DepEd publishes no graduation script, so every "official DepEd emcee script" circulating online is somebody's school template. Very little of what an emcee says is actually fixed. What is fixed: the national anthem comes before the invocation in public schools under DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015, and Republic Act No. 8491 requires it be sung in Filipino, in Julian Felipe's arrangement, by everyone present. Nothing said from the microphone may solicit money or turn the rites into a political forum, under DO 009, s. 2023. And the honours announcement changed this school year: DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 repealed DO 36, s. 2016, so public schools announce one Academic Excellence Award with names read alphabetically, not three tiers. Everything else, the welcome, the acknowledgments, the transitions and the closing, is yours.
The person searching for a graduation emcee script usually has a specific and reasonable problem: they have been handed the microphone, the programme is in three weeks, and they want to know what they are allowed to say. The answer is more freedom than they expect in most places, and less than they expect in three or four.
This guide is about the words. If what you need is the running order, which item follows which, our guide on writing a program flow for a school event covers that and the table of which programme elements are regulated. Here we are one level down: the lines the host actually reads, and which of them you may not rewrite.
Is There an Official DepEd Emcee Script?
No. There is no DepEd order, memorandum or annex that prescribes the words a master of ceremonies says at a graduation or moving-up rite. DepEd's standing policy on these ceremonies, DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2023, runs to procedures on eligibility, attire, funding, documents and conduct. It does not contain a script, a sample script, or a direction to use one.
What it does contain, along with a handful of other issuances, are constraints that a script has to work around. There are five of them, and they are worth knowing precisely, because the parts of the script people worry about most are usually the unregulated ones.
The Lines You Are Not Free to Rewrite
1. The anthem cue, and where it sits
DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015 settles a question that no statute answers. The order states plainly that there is no law categorically stating the order of a public ceremony, then adopts the National Historical Commission of the Philippines protocol: in official DepEd programmes, in the central office, regional offices, schools division offices and public schools nationwide, the singing of the Lupang Hinirang is done before the invocation at the start of the programme proper.
The same order exempts programmes held in private schools, faith-based learning institutions and other gatherings religious in nature, where the invocation is optional or may be done before the anthem. So the emcee of a Catholic school graduation who opens with a prayer is following the order, not breaking it.
2. How the anthem itself is rendered
This is the part scripts get wrong most often, and it is statutory rather than departmental. Republic Act No. 8491, the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, requires that the anthem always be sung in the national language, that its rendition follow the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe, and that when it is played at a public gathering the attending public sing it, with fervour, standing at attention and facing the flag. Section 50 of the same Act attaches penalties, a fine of five thousand to twenty thousand pesos, imprisonment of up to a year, or both, for failure to observe the Code.
Three practical consequences for a script:
- The cue asks the audience to sing, not to listen. "Please rise for the singing of our national anthem" is right. "Please rise as we play our national anthem" quietly describes something the law does not contemplate.
- A soloist or a choir does not replace the assembly. The audience still sings.
- An English rendition, a jazz arrangement or a slowed-down version is not compliant. If a learner has been asked to lead the anthem, the arrangement is not an artistic choice.
No issuance says anything about applause after the anthem. That one is local custom, and you can decide it yourself.
3. The pledge wording, if you use one
If your programme includes the Panatang Makabayan, the text was amended by DepEd Order No. 004, s. 2023, which adopted nananalangin in place of nagdarasal after consultation with the Linguistic Society of the Philippines and others, on the ground that the word does not specify a religion. Printed programmes and tarpaulins carrying the older wording are working from a superseded text.
Note that a graduation is not a flag ceremony. DO 50, s. 2015 sets a specific sequence for flag raising and lowering, including the Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa Watawat ng Pilipinas and the Panunumpa ng Lingkod Bayan, the latter for Department officials and employees only. Those are Monday morning and Friday afternoon items under Section 18 of RA 8491, not graduation items, and a script that imports them into a graduation is padding.
4. What may never be said from the microphone
Two things, both traceable:
- No solicitation. DO 009, s. 2023 prohibits any DepEd personnel from collecting any kind of contribution or graduation or moving-up fee. DepEd Memorandum No. 015, s. 2026 restated it in bold for the SY 2025-2026 rites: no individual shall be allowed to collect any kind of contribution or fee from learners and teachers for the ceremonies, in accordance with DO 19, s. 2008. For public schools the expenses are charged to the school's Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses. That closes off the appeal for donations, the announcement of a souvenir programme still being sold at the door, and the thank-you that names a required contribution. Our explainer on the no collection policy covers the wider rule, and the guide on graduation requirements and clearance covers what a clearance may and may not be used for.
- No partisan political content. DO 009, s. 2023 requires that the rites be conducted as a solemn ceremony befitting the graduating learners and their families, and not be used as a political forum, in strict compliance with DO 48, s. 2018 on the prohibition of electioneering and partisan political activity. This binds the script as much as the speech: an introduction that recites a guest's platform, or a closing that thanks an official for a project in campaign language, is the same problem in a friendlier voice.
5. The awards announcement, which changed this school year
This is the one to check before reusing any script, including your own school's from last year.
DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, signed 4 June 2026 and effective from school year 2026-2027, repealed DO 36, s. 2016 on awards and recognition. The three honours tiers went with it. In public schools there is now a single Academic Excellence Award, given to learners in Key Stages 2 to 4 with a general average of 90 or higher, no final grade below 80 in any learning area, and no derogatory record or disciplinary case within the school year. The order directs that awardees shall be listed alphabetically to promote fairness and minimise competition.
For a script, that is a structural change, not a wording tweak:
- There is no ascending sequence of With Honors, then With High Honors, then With Highest Honors to build toward.
- Names are read alphabetically, so the script cannot save a name for last for effect.
- Class rank is not announced at all. Under paragraph 76 of DO 015, a school may issue a certification of actual academic rank only on formal written request. Ranking of honours had already been wound down years earlier: DepEd Order No. 11, s. 2018 noted that the traditional practice of ranking honours, including announcing the list fifteen days before graduation, was no longer applicable following DO 36, s. 2016.
A few awards still turn on being first in the batch, including Excellence in a Specific Learning Area, and Grade 12 awards for work immersion, field exposure, arts apprenticeship, research, and design and innovation. Those are named in the order and can be announced as such. Our guide to the ranking of honours under K-12 works through the full list and the transition.
Two timing notes. DM 015, s. 2026 reiterates that the School Awards Committee deliberates at least five calendar days before the rites, which is your last safe moment to lock names into a printed script. And DO 015 provides that the Awards Committee, with the School Head, may assign appropriate roles to awardees during the ceremony, so who speaks may not be your call.
One caveat on reading older documents: DO 009, s. 2023 and DM 015, s. 2026 both point to DO 36, s. 2016 for awards, because both predate the repeal. DO 015's Annex H states that it adopts from relevant provisions of DO 36, so the substance carried over in places, but the tiers did not. Where the two conflict, the 2026 order governs from SY 2026-2027. If you are unsure which issuance is current for something else in your programme, our guide on how to find DepEd orders covers checking the source rather than the summary.
An Illustrative Script
The script below is illustrative. It was written for this guide. It is not a DepEd template, and no part of it is required wording. The label after each block is the useful part: it tells you which lines carry a legal or policy constraint and which are simply one way of saying something.
Call to order (local)
Good morning, and welcome to the [Grade level] End-of-School-Year Rites of [School name]. Please take your seats and switch mobile phones to silent. We begin in two minutes.
Processional (local)
Please rise as we welcome our candidates for graduation, together with the members of the faculty and the school administration.
National anthem (position fixed for public schools by DO 50, s. 2015; rendition fixed by RA 8491)
Please remain standing, face the Philippine flag, and join us in singing the Lupang Hinirang, to be led by [name].
Invocation (position fixed for public schools; optional or earlier in private and faith-based schools)
Please remain standing for our invocation, to be led by [name].
Welcome remarks (local)
To deliver the welcome remarks, please join me in receiving [full name and exact title].
Acknowledgment of guests (local)
We are honoured this morning by the presence of [names and offices, read exactly as written].
No issuance prescribes an order of acknowledgment for a school programme. If your division office has a practice on this, follow it; otherwise it is a courtesy decision, not a compliance one.
Presentation of candidates (local wording; eligibility governed by DO 009, s. 2023)
To present the candidates for graduation, may we call on [name and title].
Conferment and distribution of diplomas (local wording; document format fixed by DO 031, s. 2019, Enclosure 1, pages 44 to 46)
As each name is called, please come forward. Families, you are welcome to take photographs from your seats.
Awards and recognition (governed by DO 015, s. 2026 from SY 2026-2027)
We now recognise the recipients of the Academic Excellence Award for this school year. The names will be read in alphabetical order.
Note what the script does not say: no tier, no rank, no "and now, the highest award of the evening."
Learner message (local)
To deliver the message on behalf of the graduating class, may we call on [name].
Guest message (local; content constrained by DO 48, s. 2018 and DO 009, s. 2023)
To deliver our commencement message, may we welcome [full name and exact title].
Closing remarks and recessional (local)
This concludes the End-of-School-Year Rites of [School name]. Please remain standing for the recessional.
Disclaimer: schools division offices issue their own supplementary guidance on ceremonies, and it differs between divisions. Where a division memorandum and general practice conflict, follow the division. Confirm the current annual memorandum and your school's own guidance with your school head before finalising a script.
Writing the Document the Emcee Actually Holds
Once the constrained lines are placed, the rest is craft, and the difference between a script that works and one that stalls is almost entirely mechanical.
- Write out every name and title exactly as it should be said aloud, including honorifics, middle initials and the full name of the office. Emcees mispronounce what they have to improvise. Add a phonetic spelling in brackets for any name the host has not said before, and check it with the person rather than guessing.
- Keep two documents. The printed programme handed to families lists items and names. The emcee's script carries the same items plus the spoken lines, the clock times, the cues and the name of whoever is responsible for each handover.
- Mark cues, not just content. Who signals the sound technician for the anthem. Who leads the candidates into position. Who hands the microphone over and takes it back.
- Print the awards list from the approved final list, not from a draft, and date the version. This is where errors are least forgivable and most common.
- Write three contingency lines in advance: a guest who has not arrived, an item running long, and a technical failure. An emcee improvising an apology is how programmes lose ten minutes.
- Keep the total short. No issuance sets a length, but DM 015, s. 2026 advises schools to hold the rites in indoor venues with proper ventilation or in covered courts and to avoid the hottest hours of the day. A long programme in April is a heat problem before it is an attention problem.
- Circulate the script to everyone who speaks, with their allotted minutes stated in writing. This is the single most effective way to keep a school programme short.
- Have the school head sign off the final version before it is printed.
Common Errors in Scripts Circulating Online
- Three honours tiers. Repealed for public schools from SY 2026-2027 by DO 015, s. 2026. Most templates online, and most listicles about them, still describe DO 36, s. 2016 as current.
- Anthem after the prayer in a public school. Contrary to DO 50, s. 2015.
- Prayer after the anthem treated as compulsory in a private school. Also wrong, in the other direction. DO 50 exempts private and faith-based institutions.
- A line inviting the audience to listen to the anthem. RA 8491 has the public singing it.
- Flag ceremony pledges imported into a graduation. The Panunumpa ng Lingkod Bayan is for Department officials and employees, in flag ceremonies.
- An appeal for donations, or an acknowledgment of a fee. Prohibited under DO 009, s. 2023 and DO 19, s. 2008.
- Last year's theme. Themes are set annually by memorandum. Do not carry one forward, and do not state the coming cycle's dates or theme until the memorandum for that year is out.
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Sources
- DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015 — Observance/Conduct of Flag Raising and Lowering Ceremonies and Proper Sequence in Official DepEd Programs Involving the Singing of the Philippine National Anthem
- DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2023 — An Order Updating the Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year Rites
- DepEd Memorandum No. 015, s. 2026 — Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year Rites for School Year 2025-2026
- DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 — Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (full text PDF, Annex H on awards)
- DepEd Order No. 004, s. 2023 — Amendment to the Panatang Makabayan
- Republic Act No. 8491 — Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (full text)
