By Benjamin Pulta/PNA
MANILA — A group on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to take a second look at its ruling, which declared as constitutional the order issued by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) excluding Filipino, Panitikan and Philippine Constitution from among the core subjects in the general education curriculum in college.
In a 19-page motion for reconsideration, activist group Tanggol Wika insisted that Section 6, Article XIV on the use of the Filipino language as medium of instruction is self-executory.
The group noted that the Constitution states that the “national language of the Philippines is Filipino” and “shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.”
It also reiterated that there are matters covered in Filipino curriculum at the college level that are not present in Filipino curriculum in junior and senior high school.
“Mandated Filipino units in college aim to develop and enrich our national language…speech and technical writing such as research’ the Filipino language in culture and the arts; and so on,” the group said.
In its Oct. 9 decision, the High Court declared as constitutional the assailed CHED memorandum and lifted the temporary restraining order issued on April 21, 2015 against its implementation.
The SC held that these constitutional provisions “are only policies that may be used by the judiciary as aids or as guides in the exercise of its power of judicial review, and by the legislature in its enactment of laws”.
