Political Socialization in the Philippines: Learning about Democracy 235 print media, provide support to this. On the other hand, perhaps, it has never been the family's role to provide manifest socialization on government and being Filipino, this being seen as the role of the schools. The role of the school. As already mentioned, the school is another very potent socialization agent. In many instances, parents willingly cede the upbringing of their children to the schools, particularly when it comes to knowledge and values of a more socio-civic nature. Political socialization is viewed as a major responsibility of schools (Quiñones, 2013; Doronila, 1986, 1989, 1992). Schools are the main conduit for the government to directly inuence the thinking and behaviors of its citizens via mandated basic education curricula and subject content. School is one social institution explicitly "charged with the manifest function of political socialization" (Sicat, 1976). Aside from being the government arm in terms of political socialization, schools also have their own philosophies of education and socio-cultural values the academic institution would like to transmit to its students. This is particularly clear in religious, sectarian educational institutions. For example, the Ateneo de Manila University takes pride in their formation of the man (or woman) for others. In1993, the University of the Philippines attempted some soul-searching by looking at the knowledge, attitudes and values imbibed by its graduates. Value has always been placed on the role and contribution of the university to nation building. Thus, in this study, the university examined how their efforts had fared in terms of shaping the UP graduate, to determine educational changes that might be needed to t the needs of a new generation of students (Doronila, et al, 1993). Results showed some degree of success in the training of future leaders in their elds, given the excellent training and education provided by the university. The faculty and students from its many different colleges reported actively participating and contributing to the nation and society. Three outstanding characteristics of the UP graduate were identied: self-condence, leadership ability and critical thinking. These three characteristics socialized and honed through the educational processes at work in the university are also characteristics that are very important for a participative and engaged citizen. Yet, the UP education is unique and hardly normative and the UP graduate is more the outlier as far as these characteristics are concerned. The standard education, by and large, mass- produces docile, uncritical, passive follower types who will not make trouble for their employers. For her master's thesis in psychology, Ortega (1984) examined the development of Filipino children's socio-political concepts, comparing primary, intermediate, and secondary level students' appreciation of sociopolitical constructs learned from their social studies classes. Her study showed that a better understanding of abstract political concepts comes with age. But, although her high school respondents had a better idea of government and