History

The Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy or PCCED is a non-stock, non-profit organization dedicated to the effective promotion of good citizenship in a democracy through education. While it has only been recently registered, the members of the organization have been actively engaged in education for democracy work for many years. Members of the organization have been actively engaged, individually, in education for democracy such as Civitas Philippines, CivAsia, and Project Citizen.

The first major group initiative in education for democracy was in 2004, when the members successfully got a grant from the US Department of State Small Grants Commission to create the Civic Education Training Seminars. This was coursed through the Center for Research and Communication Foundation – a non-governmental organization affiliated with the University of Asia and the Pacific.

The second major initiative began in 2005 when Project Citizen was officially adapted for the high school level in the Philippines. However, it has been implemented in the University since 2001. In 2006, a Philippine delegation comprised of Dr. Paul Dumol, Mr. Mir Tillah, Mr. Luis Martin Gascon, Dr. Ferdinand Piñgul, and Ms. Monica Ang was invited to the US to be trained in the pedagogy. The official licensing agreement was signed, and in 2007, the first Project Citizen textbook was launched in the Philippines. The Philippine delegation also were given a session to plan out their initiatives, and this is when the Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy was conceived.