In the Philippines, introduction of a formal education system, new written language, and the knowledge encoded in it have been part of a colonization process and not the result of direct evolution from informal education. The discontinuities between formal and informal education--abstraction, systematization, and specialization--are greater and more complex, but nonformal education is in a position to bridge them. Adult education development has been part of a dynamic interaction between social problems, popular demands, state response, adult education provision, and external constraints. The most significant legislation and policies are as follows: the agrarian reform law, creation of autonomous regions for indigenous Muslim Filipino communities, local government code, education reforms, language policy, literacy under Education for All, human rights education, and Philippine Development Plan for Women. Seven aspects must be considered when speaking of a context-specific, community-based literacy and functional nonformal education program: nature of community life, extent of literacy practice within the community, use of locally adapted and indigenous materials, development of a literate tradition in communities, incorporation of livelihood and development components in literacy programs, use of the interagency approach, and a system of equivalency and accreditation and a new role for the Bureau of Nonformal Education. The present nonformal education program is determined to put in place an alternative learning system that includes these seven aspects. (YLB)