Decision
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G.R.Nos.216930,217451,217752, 218045,218098,218123&218465
to lose their academic freedom when they are transferred to senior high school level as provided in the K to 12 Law, the K to 12 Law !RR and the Joint Guidelines. 222 Without question, petitioners, who are faculty members in HEis, indeed possess the academic freedom granted by Constitution. This Court, in its previous decisions, has defined academic freedom for the individual member of the academe as "the right of a faculty member to pursue his studies in his particular specialty and thereafter to make known or publish the result of his endeavors without fear that retribution would be visited on him in the event that his conclusions are found distasteful or objectionable to the powers that be, whether in the political, economic, or academic establishments. " 223 However, the Court does not agree with petitioners that their transfer to the secondary level, as provided by the K to 12 Law and the assailed issuances, constitutes a violation of their academic freedom. While the Court agrees, in principle, that security of tenure is an important aspect of academic freedom - that the freedom is only meaningful if the faculty members are assured that they are free to pursue their academic endeavors without fear of reprisals it is likewise equally true that convergence of security of tenure and academic freedom does not preclude the termination of a faculty member for a valid cause. 224 Civil servants, like petitioners, may be removed from service for a valid cause, such as when there is a bona fide reorganization, or a position has been abolished or rendered redundant, or there is a need to merge, divide, or consolidate positions in order to meet the exigencies of the service. 225 Hence, petitioners' contention that the law is unconstitutional based on this ground is spec10us. Free public education in the elementary and high school levels Petitioners claim that making kindergarten compulsory limits access to education; 226 that 400,000 to 500,000 Grade 11 students will be forced to enroll in private schools, pushed by government towards a more expensive, not free education; 227 and that there will be a de facto privatization of senior high school education (through the voucher system) and that this is a violation of the constitutional provision mandating free high school education. 228 The OSG counters that the Senior High School Voucher program (subsidy given to those who will enroll in non-DepEd schools) does not force 222 223
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225 226 227 228
Rollo (G.R. No. 216930), Vol. 3, pp. 1872-1873. Garcia v. The Faculty Admission Committee, Loyola School of Theology, 160-A Phil. 929, 942 (1975). See Montemayor v. Araneta University Foundation, 167 Phil. 667, 668 (1977). Sec. 2, RA No. 6656, AN ACT TO PROTECT THE SECURITY OF TENURE OF CIVIL SERVICE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION, June I 0, 1988. Rollo (G.R. No. 218123), Vol. 2, pp. 1256-1267. Id. at 1258. Id. at 1256-1260.
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