TL;DR: There is no official DepEd prayer before class, in Filipino or in any other language, and no issuance prescribes one. This guide does not supply a prayer text, because any text would be somebody's school practice presented as national policy. What is actually settled: DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015 places the national anthem before the invocation in official DepEd programmes in public schools, and exempts private and faith-based schools from that sequence. Article III, Section 5 of the Constitution bars establishment of religion and guarantees free exercise without discrimination or preference. Ebralinag v. Division Superintendent of Schools of Cebu (1993) held that learners may be exempted from compelled participation in the flag ceremony on religious grounds, and that the exemption does not license disruption. And DepEd Order No. 004, s. 2023 changed nagdarasal to nananalangin in the Panatang Makabayan precisely because the newer word does not specify a religion.
Most people searching for a prayer before class in Tagalog want words to read out tomorrow morning. It is worth saying plainly at the top that this guide does not hand you a text, and explaining why: there is no official one, the words are set by each school or teacher, and publishing a version would only add one more unofficial text to a pile of them.
What is genuinely useful, and much harder to find, is the answer to the questions underneath: whether a school may require the prayer, what happens when a learner does not join, where the invocation sits in a programme, and which of the rules change in a sectarian school. Those have answers, and the answers come from issuances and from a Supreme Court decision.
Is There an Official Prayer?
No. No DepEd order or memorandum prescribes the wording of a classroom prayer. What DepEd does prescribe, and what people sometimes mistake for a prayer, are two other things:
- The Panatang Makabayan, a patriotic pledge. Its text was amended by DepEd Order No. 004, s. 2023, which adopted nananalangin in place of nagdarasal after consultation including the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, 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 Printed programmes and tarpaulins carrying the older wording are working from a superseded text.
- The flag ceremony sequence, under Republic Act No. 8491, the Flag and Heraldic Code, and DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015.
Neither is a prayer. The invocation itself is left to the school, which is why the wording varies from one campus to the next and why every "official DepEd prayer" circulating online is unsourced. If you have been handed one and told it is required, our guides on what a DepEd order is and how to find and read DepEd orders cover how to check the claim against the source.
Where the Invocation Sits in a Programme
This is the part that is actually fixed, and it is fixed differently for public and private schools.
DepEd Order No. 50, s. 2015 notes that no law categorically states 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 come before the anthem.
| Setting | Anthem and invocation order | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Public school official programme | Anthem first, then invocation | DO 50, s. 2015 |
| Private school | Not bound by the sequence; invocation may come first | DO 50, s. 2015 exemption |
| Faith-based school or religious gathering | Not bound by the sequence | DO 50, s. 2015 exemption |
A Catholic school programme that opens with a prayer is following the order, not breaking it. Our guide on writing a program flow for a school event sets out which programme elements are fixed by issuance and which are the school's own, and the graduation script guide does the same for the words an emcee reads.
What the Constitution Actually Says
Two provisions do the work, and they pull in different directions on purpose.
Article III, Section 5 provides that no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed; and that no religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
Article XIV, Section 3(3) provides that, at the option expressed in writing by the parents or guardians, religion shall be allowed to be taught to their children in public elementary and high schools within regular class hours, by instructors designated or approved by the religious authorities of the religion the children belong to, and without additional cost to the Government.
Read together, they describe a system that makes room for religion in public schools while keeping participation voluntary and keeping the State out of the content. Note how carefully Section 3(3) is drawn: written parental option, approved instructors, no public cost. A daily classroom prayer is not religious instruction under that provision, but the same logic about consent and non-preference sits behind school practice.
The Case That Settles Compulsion
Ebralinag v. Division Superintendent of Schools of Cebu, decided 1 March 1993, is the decision every school head should know.
Sixty-eight elementary and high school learners in Cebu, members of Jehovah's Witnesses, were expelled for refusing to salute the flag, sing the national anthem and recite the patriotic pledge, which were then compulsory in all educational institutions. The Supreme Court annulled the expulsion orders, holding that an exemption may be accorded out of respect for their religious beliefs. The Court was equally explicit on the limit: the right not to participate does not carry a right to disrupt the exercise for everyone else.
The case is about the flag ceremony rather than about prayer, but the principle transfers directly. A learner who quietly does not join a devotional exercise is exercising a protected freedom. A learner who disrupts it is not, and may be dealt with as a discipline matter on that basis rather than on the basis of belief.
Disclaimer: this is an explainer, not legal advice, and not clearance for any particular school practice. Schools division offices and individual schools issue their own guidance, and sectarian schools operate under their own religious charter. For a live dispute, take it to your school head, your Schools Division Office, or counsel.
What This Means for a Teacher on Monday Morning
None of the following is prescribed by any issuance. It is what follows from the rules above, and it is worth checking against your own school and division guidance.
- Do not compel. A learner who does not join should not be asked to explain, singled out, or made to stand apart. Non-participation is not misconduct.
- Do not record or grade it. Article VIII of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers requires evaluation based only on merit and quality of academic performance, and prohibits deducting from scholastic ratings as punishment for acts that are not manifestations of poor scholarship.
- Do not let it become a safeguarding problem. Humiliation or discrimination on religious grounds engages the DepEd Child Protection Policy, DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012, whatever the intention.
- A moment of silence is the most inclusive option in a public school. Announced as a moment for silent prayer or reflection, it lets each learner do what their belief calls for and asks nobody to speak words that are not theirs.
- If a spoken invocation is the school's settled practice, general language and an unremarkable attitude to non-participation carry most of the load.
- Ask your school head what the school has actually decided. Many schools have a settled practice that nobody has written down, and the question is easier asked than discovered.
The Language Question
The keyword people search is Tagalog, but the classroom reality is broader. Filipino is the national language and is used in school programmes nationwide, and English appears throughout. The early grades used to lean on the learner's mother tongue, but Republic Act No. 12027, which lapsed into law on October 10, 2024, discontinued the mother tongue as the medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3; under DepEd Order No. 020, s. 2025 the primary media there have been Filipino and English since School Year 2025-2026, with regional and local languages kept as auxiliary media and still heard in the room. None of this touches the prayer. There is no rule requiring one in any particular language, because there is no rule about the prayer at all.
Two vocabulary notes that come up:
- Dasal and panalangin both translate as prayer. DepEd's own move in DO 004, s. 2023, from nagdarasal to nananalangin, was made on the reasoning that the chosen term does not specify a religion. That is a useful signal about how to pitch shared language in a mixed classroom.
- Panata means a pledge or a vow, which is why the patriotic pledge is the Panatang Makabayan and not a prayer, however devotional its phrasing sounds.
The values a public school is asking learners to hold in common are set out elsewhere and are not religious; our guide to DepEd's mission, vision and core values covers what they are and where they come from.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare Philippine schools, including sectarian and non-sectarian options, on SchoolFinderPH.
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. 004, s. 2023 — Amendment to the Panatang Makabayan (official PDF)
- DepEd — DO 40, s. 2012: DepEd Child Protection Policy
- Republic Act No. 12027 — discontinuing the use of the mother tongue as medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 (LawPhil, official text)
- DepEd Order No. 020, s. 2025 — Policy on the Medium of Instruction for Kindergarten to Grade 3 Effective School Year 2025-2026 (official PDF)
- The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (full text, Article III and Article XIV)
- Ebralinag v. Division Superintendent of Schools of Cebu, G.R. No. 95770, 1 March 1993 (full text)
- Republic Act No. 8491 — Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (full text)
- PRC — Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers, Board Resolution No. 435 (official PDF)
- SchoolFinderPH — Writing a Program Flow for a School Event
