THE Supreme Court has been prodded to render its ruling on petitions assailing the K-12 program of the Department of Education, which added two years to the country’s basic education system.
In a most urgent motion, parents and teachers from Manila Science High School appealed to the 15-member bench to rule on the merits of their petition filed in June 2015 that seeks to stop the implementation of the program under Republic Act No. 10533, The Enhanced Basic Education Act.
Through lawyer Severo Brillantes, the petitioners lamented that it has been almost two years since they filed the petition and the SC has yet to decide on the case.
The last action taken by the SC on the case was when it denied in April last year the plea of petitioners for issuance of temporary restraining order, which paved the way for the implementation of the controversial program last year.
“Said petitioners have already suffered the grave injustice and irreparable injury of being compelled to still go through one year of senior high school, which this despotic and anti-democratic education program, pushed by purely selfish private school interests, has inflicted on them. They beseech the Honorable Court as the last bulwark of democracy and the legitimate recourse of their grievances, to once and for all come to their aid, pursuant to its solemn and sacred obligation under the Constitution, by granting the reliefs they have long prayed for: Stop K-12 by declaring it to be unconstitutional and finally allow them to be admitted to college this coming school year of 2017-2018,” the motion stated.
Petitioners said the SC should also prioritize their petitions, even as they lamented how the SC gave priority to cases involving the citizenship of Senator Grace Poe in the presidential election last year and the drug case of Senator Leila de Lima over their case.
“They beseech the Honorable Court to now forthwith render its judgment on their Petition without further delay. While they understand the heavy work load of the Honorable Court attending to other cases, most certainly, the fate of millions of students which are the fair hope of the motherland, is no less important than the citizenship of a presidential candidate last year, for which the Honorable Court took time to allow oral arguments [which privilege was sadly denied to them] or the recent arrest and detention of a Senator, for which the Honorable Court will again take time to allow oral arguments [which privilege, had it been granted to them, would have as early as last year clarified issues and thus expedited proceedings],” they said.
Petitioners also stressed that their case has already been ripe for decision as they claimed having been able to prove that the K-12 program “indeed materially and substantially invaded the clear and unmistakable constitutional rights of students.”
With these arguments, the MSHS teachers and parents reiterated their plea for the high tribunal to declare the K-12 law unconstitutional for violating their rights to due process and equal protection.
Apart from the MSHS faculty and parents, three other petitions were filed before the SC against the program implemented under R.A. 10533 and Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 31 by the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Suspend K-12 Alliance led by Bayan Muna party-list Representatives Neri Colminares and Carlos Zarate.
They all assailed the lack of consultation with parents and teachers prior to the issuance of the order.
Petitioners also accused the DepEd of usurping legislative powers in issuing Order No. 31, which implemented the K-12 Basic Education Curriculum and Senior High School.
According to them, the assailed order was issued without legal authority since Congress was still deliberating on the law at that time.