May 29, 2015, 11:52 a.m. – A NEW petition was filed
before the Supreme Court Thursday, seeking the suspension of the K to 12
program due to supposed discrepancies in the law.
Petitioners led by the National Union of People’s Lawyers
(NUPL) sought a temporary restraining order on the K to 12 Law for allegedly
violating democratic processes.
According to the Suspend K to 12 Coalition, the K to 12 bill
that President Benigno Aquino signed into a law in 2013 was different from the
consolidated bill submitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate.
“We are not looking for a perfect law but a law that makes
sense,” UST Faculty Union External Vice President Rene Luis Tadle said during a
press conference. “In issuing the said order, [the Department of Education] has
committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction
when it usurps legislative authority by creating a law without delegation of
power.”
The coalition questioned the Department of Education’s
policy guidelines for Grades 1 to 10 of the K to 12 Basic Education curriculum
for allegedly violating the constitutional right of parents to participate in
planning programs that affect them.
“This K to 12 program is going to displace thousands of
workers and cost [money to] thousands of parents to provide [two] more years of
education. This seems to be a program that’s being run down the throats of
parents,” NUPL lead counsel Cheryl Daytec-Yangot said in a press conference.
The group also questioned the constitutionality of the
Kindergarten Education Act—a law that makes kindergarten education
compulsory—for “effectively denying students of their right to education unless
they compulsorily obtain kindergarten education.”
Revenendo Vargas, UST High School Parents’ Association board
member and Parents’ Advocacy for Children’s Education founding member, said the
coalition would conduct social media campaigns and other activities while
waiting for the high court’s decision.
“Parents will participate in all activities calling for the
suspension of the K to 12 [Law],” Vargas said in an interview.
Last March 12, the Suspend K to 12 Coalition filed a
petition before the Supreme Court asking for a temporary restraining order on
the full implementation of the K to 12 program. Arianne F. Merez
