K to 12 Law was duly enacted
Petitioners question the validity of the enactment of the K to 12 Law claiming that: (1) sectors which would be directly affected by the K to 12 Basic Education Program were deprived of their right, under Section 16, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution, to be consulted or participate in matters which involved their interest prior to the passage of the law;[125] (2) the enrolled bill which the President signed into law varies significantly from the reconciled version of the bill as approved by Congress and reported in the Senate Journal on January 30, 2013,[126] and that the Court, pursuant to its ruling in Astorga v. Villegas,[127] (Astorga) should look into the entries in the Journal to determine whether the K to 12 Law was duly enacted;[128] and (3) the K to 12 Law was incomplete because it failed to provide sufficient standards by which the DepEd, CHED and TESDA, might be guided in addressing the possible impact of the implementation of the K to 12 Law on labor; thus, Section 31 of the K to 12 IRR and the Joint Guidelines, which spring forth from such undue delegation of legislative power, are invalid and unconstitutional.[129]
For its part, the OSG contends that the K to 12 Law was enacted in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Constitution and that contrary to petitioners' assertion, the text of the enrolled bill which was eventually signed into law is not different from the consolidated bill drafted by the Bicameral Conference Committee and approved by the Senate and House of Representatives.[130] Further, the OSG argues that there is no undue delegation of legislative power because the K to 12 Law provides a sufficient standard on the impact on labor due to its implementation.[131]
Private respondent Miriam College shares the same view that the K to 12 Law sufficiently provided standards to guide the relevant administrative agencies and the private educational institutions in the implementation of the K to 12 Law and address all issues on labor.[132]
The Court holds that, contrary to petitioners' contention, the K to 12 Law was validly enacted.
First, petitioners' claim of lack of prior consultations is belied by the nationwide regional consultations conducted by DepEd pursuant DepEd Memorandum Nos. 38[133] and 98,[134] series of 2011. The regional consultations, which aimed "to inform the public [and] to elicit their opinions, thoughts, and suggestions about the K to 12 program,"[135] ran from February to March 2011 and were participated in by students, parents, teachers and administrators, government representatives, and representatives from private schools and private sectors.[136]
The Philippine Congress, in the course of drafting the K to 12 Law, also conducted regional public hearings between March 2011 to February 2012, wherein representatives from parents-teachers' organizations, business, public/private school heads, civil society groups/non-government organizations/private organizations and local government officials and staffs were among the participants.[137] And even assuming that no consultations had been made prior to the adoption of the K to 12, it has been held that the "[p]enalty for failure on the part of the government to consult could only be reflected in the ballot box and would not nullify government action."[138]
Second, the enrolled bill doctrine applies in this case. Under the "enrolled bill doctrine," the signing of a bill by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President and the certification of the Secretaries of both Houses of Congress that it was passed is conclusive not only as to its provisions but also as to its due enactment.[139] The rationale behind the enrolled bill doctrine rests on the consideration that "[t]he respect due to coequal and independent departments requires the [Judiciary] to act upon that assurance, and to accept, as having passed Congress, all bills authenticated in the manner stated; leaving the court to determine, when the question properly arises, [as in the instant consolidated cases], whether the Act, so authenticated, is in conformity with the Constitution."[140]
Jurisprudence will show that the Court has consistently adhered to the enrolled bill doctrine. Claims that the required three-fourths vote for constitutional amendment has not been obtained,[141] that irregularities attended the passage of the law,[142] that the tenor of the bill approved in Congress was different from that signed by the President,[143] that an amendment was made upon the last reading of the bill,[144] and even claims that the enrolled copy of the bill sent to the President contained provisions which had been "surreptitiously" inserted by the conference committee,[145] had all failed to convince the Court to look beyond the four corners of the enrolled copy of the bill.
As correctly pointed out by private respondent Miriam College, petitioners' reliance on Astorga is quite misplaced. They overlooked that in Astorga, the Senate President himself, who authenticated the bill, admitted a mistake and withdrew his signature, so that in effect there was no longer an enrolled bill to consider.[146] Without such attestation, and consequently there being no enrolled bill to speak of, the Court was constrained to consult the entries in the journal to determine whether the text of the bill signed by the Chief Executive was the same text passed by both Houses of Congress.[147]
In stark contrast to Astorga, this case presents no exceptional circumstance to justify the departure from the salutary rule. The K to 12 Lawwas passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on January 20, 2013, approved by the President on May 15, 2013, and, after publication, took effect on June 8, 2013. Thus, there is no doubt as to the formal validity of the K to 12 Law.
Third, there is no undue delegation of legislative power in the enactment of the K to 12 Law.
In determining whether or not a statute constitutes an undue delegation of legislative power, the Court has adopted two tests: the completeness test and the sufficient standard test. Under the first test, the law must be complete in all its terms and conditions when it leaves the legislature such that when it reaches the delegate, the only thing he will have to do is to enforce it.[148] The policy to be executed, carried out or implemented by the delegate must be set forth therein.[149] The sufficient standard test, on the other hand, mandates adequate guidelines or limitations in the law to determine the boundaries of the delegate's authority and prevent the delegation from running riot. To be sufficient, the standard must specify the limits of the delegate's authority, announce the legislative policy and identify the conditions under which it is to be implemented.[150]
The K to 12 Law adequately provides the legislative policy that it seeks to implement. Section 2 of the K to 12 Law provides:
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and society-at-large.
Likewise, it is hereby declared the policy of the State that every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual who has learned, through a program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence, the foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the ability to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities, the capability to engage in autonomous, creative, and critical thinking, and the capacity and willingness to transform others and one's self.
For this purpose, the State shall create a functional basic education system that will develop productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies, skills and values for both life-long learning and employment. In order to achieve this, the State shall:
(a) Give every student an opportunity to receive quality education that is globally competitive based on a pedagogically sound curriculum; that is at par with international standards;
(b) Broaden the goals of high school education for college preparation, vocational and technical career opportunities as well as creative arts, sports and entrepreneurial employment in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment; and
(c) Make education learner-oriented and responsive to the needs, cognitive and cultural capacity, the circumstances and diversity of learners, schools and communities through the appropriate languages of teaching and learning, including mother tongue as a learning resource.
Moreover, scattered throughout the K to 12 Law are the standards to guide the DepEd, CHED and TESDA in carrying out the provisions of the law, from the development of the K to 12 BEC, to the hiring and training of teaching personnel and to the formulation of appropriate strategies in order to address the changes during the transition period.
SEC. 5. Curriculum Development. — The DepEd shall formulate the design and details of the enhanced basic education curriculum. It shall work with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to craft harmonized basic and tertiary curricula for the global competitiveness of Filipino graduates. To ensure college readiness and to avoid remedial and duplication of basic education subjects, the DepED shall coordinate with the CHED and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
To achieve an effective enhanced basic education curriculum, the DepED shall undertake consultations with other national government agencies and other stakeholders including, but not limited to, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the private and public schools associations, the national student organizations, the national teacher organizations, the parents-teachers associations and the chambers of commerce on matters affecting the concerned stakeholders.
The DepED shall adhere to the following standards and principles in developing the enhanced basic education curriculum:
(a) The curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive and developmentally appropriate;
(b) The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and research-based;
(c) The curriculum shall be culture-sensitive;
(d) The curriculum shall be contextualized and global;
(e) The curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that are constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective, collaborative and integrative;
(f) The curriculum shall adhere to the principles and framework of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) which starts from where the learners are and from what they already knew proceeding from the known to the unknown; instructional materials and capable teachers to implement the MTB-MLE curriculum shall be available;
(g) The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure mastery of knowledge and skills after each level; and
(h) The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable and allow schools to localize, indigenize and enhance the same based on their respective educational and social contexts. The production and development of locally produced teaching materials shall be encouraged and approval of these materials shall devolve to the regional and division education units.
x x x x
SEC. 7. Teacher Education and Training. — To ensure that the enhanced basic education program meets the demand for quality teachers and school leaders, the DepED and the CHED, in collaboration with relevant partners in government, academe, industry, and nongovernmental organizations, shall conduct teacher education and training programs, as specified:
(a) In-service Training on Content and Pedagogy. — Current DepED teachers shall be retrained to meet the content and performance standards of the new K to 12 curriculum. The DepED shall ensure that private education institutions shall be given the opportunity to avail of such training.
(b) Training of New Teachers. — New graduates of the current Teacher Education curriculum shall undergo additional training, upon hiring, to upgrade their skills to the content standards of the new curriculum. Furthermore, the CHED, in coordination with the DepED and relevant stakeholders, shall ensure that the Teacher Education curriculum offered in these Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) will meet the necessary quality standards for new teachers. Duly recognized organizations acting as TEIs, in coordination with the DepED, the CHED, and other relevant stakeholders, shall ensure that the curriculum of these organizations meet the necessary quality standards for trained teachers.
(c) Training of School Leadership. — Superintendents, principals, subject area coordinators and other instructional school leaders shall likewise undergo workshops and training to enhance their skills on their role as academic, administrative and community leaders.
Henceforth, such professional development programs as those stated above shall be initiated and conducted regularly throughout the school year to ensure constant upgrading of teacher skills.
SEC. 8. Hiring of Graduates of Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering and Other Specialists in Subjects with a Shortage of Qualified Applicants, Technical-Vocational Courses and Higher Education Institution Faculty. — Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 26, 27 and 28 of Republic Act No. 7836, otherwise known as the "Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994", the DepED and private education institutions shall hire, as may be relevant to the particular subject:
(a) Graduates of science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, music and other degree courses with shortages in qualified Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) applicants to teach in their specialized subjects in the elementary and secondary education. Qualified LET applicants shall also include graduates admitted by foundations duly recognized for their expertise in the education sector and who satisfactorily complete the requirements set by these organizations: Provided, That they pass the LET within five (5) years after their date of hiring: Provided, further, That if such graduates are willing to teach on part-time basis, the provisions of LET shall no longer be required;
(b) Graduates of technical-vocational courses to teach in their specialized subjects in the secondary education: Provided, That these graduates possess the necessary certification issued by the TESDA: Provided, further, That they undergo appropriate in-service training to be administered by the DepED or higher education institutions (HEIs) at the expense of the DepED;
(c) Faculty of HEIs be allowed to teach in their general education or subject specialties in the secondary education: Provided, That the faculty must be a holder of a relevant Bachelor's degree, and must have satisfactorily served as a full-time HEI faculty;
(d) The DepED and private education institutions may hire practitioners, with expertise in the specialized learning areas offered by the Basic Education Curriculum, to teach in the secondary level: Provided, That they teach on part-time basis only. For this purpose, the DepED, in coordination with the appropriate government agencies, shall determine the necessary qualification standards in hiring these experts.
x x x x
SEC. 12. Transitory Provisions. — The DepED, the CHED and the TESDA shall formulate the appropriate strategies and mechanisms needed to ensure smooth transition from the existing ten (10) years basic education cycle to the enhanced basic education (K to 12) cycle. The strategies may cover changes in physical infrastructure, manpower, organizational and structural concerns, bridging models linking grade 10 competencies and the entry requirements of new tertiary curricula, and partnerships between the government and other entities. Modeling for senior high school may be implemented in selected schools to simulate the transition process and provide concrete data for the transition plan.
To manage the initial implementation of the enhanced basic education program and mitigate the expected multi-year low enrolment turnout for HEIs and Technical Vocational Institutions (TVIs) starting School Year 2016-2017, the DepED shall engage in partnerships with HEIs and TVIs for the utilization of the latter's human and physical resources. Moreover, the DepED, the CHED, the TESDA, the TVIs and the HEIs shall coordinate closely with one another to implement strategies that ensure the academic, physical, financial, and human resource capabilities of HEIs and TVIs to provide educational and training services for graduates of the enhanced basic education program to ensure that they are not adversely affected. The faculty of HEIs and TVIs allowed to teach students of secondary education under Section 8 hereof, shall be given priority in hiring for the duration of the transition period. For this purpose, the transition period shall be provided for in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).[151]
Clearly, under the two tests, the K to 12 Law, read and appreciated in its entirety, is complete in all essential terms and conditions and contains sufficient parameters on the power delegated to the DepEd, CHED and TESDA. The fact that the K to 12 Law did not have any provision on labor does not make said law incomplete. The purpose of permissible delegation to administrative agencies is for the latter to "implement the broad policies laid down in a statute by 'filling in' the details which the Congress may not have the opportunity or competence to provide."[152] With the proliferation of specialized activities and their attendant peculiar problems, the legislature has found it necessary to entrust to administrative agencies, who are supposed to be experts in the particular fields assigned to them, the authority to provide direct and efficacious solutions to these problems.[153] This is effected by the promulgation of supplementary regulations, such as the K to 12 IRR jointly issued by the DepEd, CHED and TESDA and the Joint Guidelines issued in coordination with DOLE, to address in detail labor and management rights relevant to implementation of the K to 12 Law.
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