Ebralinag v. Division Superintendent

Ebralinag v. Division Superintendent (219 SCRA 256, G.R. No. 95770 et al. (1993) was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines concerning freedom of religion in schools. It involved 68 pupils from the towns of Asturias, Daanbantayan, Pinamungajan, Tuburan and Carcar, all in the province of Cebu, who were Jehovah's Witnesses expelled for refusing to sing the national anthem, salute the flag and recite the patriotic pledge in school as required by law. This ruling overturned the court's previous ruling on the same subject in Gerona v. Secretary of Education.
Sixty-eight high school and grade school students, all of whom were adherents of the non-trinitarian/Restorationist Christian sect, Jehovah's Witnesses, were expelled from their public schools in various towns in Cebu: Asturias, Daanbantayan, Pinamungajan, Carcar and Tuburan, for refusing to sing the national anthem, salute the flag and recite the patriotic pledge as required under Republic Act No. 1265 and Department Order No. 8, Series of 1955. Two teachers, one from each school, were also adherents of the same sect, and were removed from their positions for the same offense: one was fired and the other was forced to resign.
As practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, they were taught the practice of refraining from saluting the flag, singing the national anthem and reciting the patriotic pledge, on the belief that such constitute an "act of worship" or "religious devotion", which they cannot conscientiously participate in unless it is for God; they also believe that the action of flag salute and pledge transcends constitutional limitation into state power and invades the spirit which the Constitution protects against official control.
In 1989 the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) Regional Office in Cebu received complaints about Jehovah's Witnesses-affiliated teachers and pupils who were refusing to sing the national anthem, salute the national flag and recite the patriotic pledge. Division Superintendent Susana Cabahug and Assistant Division Superintendent Dr. Atty. Marcelo Bacalso wrote a division memorandum recalling the previous Supreme Court's decision Gerona v. Secretary of Education, rebuking and condemning the pupils and teachers who refused to do so. Cebu school officials created a number of ways to persuade students to obey the memorandum; on one occasion, pupils at Buenavista Elementary School were asked to sign an agreement to sing the national anthem and recite the Patriotic Oath. Daanbantayan district supervisor Manuel F. Biongcog ordered the expulsion of the students who refused to pledge, stating that those who "opted to follow their religious belief against the Flag Salute Law" were "forfeit[ing] their right to attend public schools.
When the expulsion order came into effect on October 23, 1990, 43 of the expelled students wrote a petition to Secretary of Education Isidro Cariño, but no answer was received. The petition of the 25 students in G.R. No. 95887 were also expelled because the new division superintendent of schools, Dr. Pablo Antopina, did not recall the expulsion orders and caused expulsion of more children of Jehovah Witnesses instead. The parents of the students filed for specific civil actions for mandamus, certiorari and prohibition on October 31, 1990, alleging that the public acted in or without in excess of their jurisdiction and with grave abuse of discretion. On November 27, 1990, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction commanding the respondents to immediately re-admit the petitioners to their respective classes until the further orders from the court.
On May 13, 1991, the Solicitor General filed a consolidated comment to the petitioners defending the expulsion orders issued by the public respondents that says:
Three questions were presented:
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ebralinag and the other expelled students, with the court ruling that "a similar exemption may be accorded to the Jehovah's Witnesses with regard to the observance of the flag ceremony out of respect for their religious beliefs, however 'bizarre' those beliefs may seem to others. Nevertheless, their right not to participate in the flag ceremony does not give them a right to disrupt such patriotic exercises." The Supreme Court further contended that the expulsion orders of the students who were members of Jehovah's Witnesses violated their right as a Filipino citizen under Section 1, Article 14 of the 1987 Constitution that seeks to "protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education.....and to make such education accessible to all." The court also declared that the expulsion order was unconstitutional and violated their right of freedom of religion.
In his concurring opinion, Associate Justice Isagani Cruz said that "..freedom of choice guarantees the liberty of the religious conscience and prohibits any degree of any compulsion or burden, whether direct or indirect, in the practice of one's religion."
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Philippine license. (license statement/permission). Text taken from G.R. No. 95770​, Supreme Court of the Philippines, The Lawphil Project.