(CNN Philippines) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday (April 22) issued a temporary restraining order against the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) memo removing Filipino and Panitikan (Literature) as core courses in the General Education college curriculum.
The Supreme Court, however, clarified on its official Twitter account that it did not issue a TRO against the K-12 program.
Related: The unresolved issues of K-12
Court spokesperson Theodore Te said the restraining order against the CHED memo would take effect immediately and would be enforced until the court says otherwise.
Respondent CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan is given a non-extendable period of 10 days from receipt of notice to comment on the petition.
CHED’s Memorandum 20, issued in 2013, excludes Filipino and Panitikan as core courses in the General Education Curriculum in college.
This memorandum limits the teaching of Filipino subjects to Filipino majors and Education in Filipino majors.
National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, along with a group of Filipino subject professors, brought the matter to the high court through a petition for certiorari with a prayer for the issuance of an injunction.
The petitioners argued that thousands of full-time and part-time teachers would lose their jobs when Filipino subjects are dropped from the college curriculum in 2016.
They also said CHED failed to carry out consultations with colleges, universities, and other stakeholders prior to the issuance of the memorandum.
