401 Phil. 431
KAPUNAN, J.:
xxx a story, clearly fiction, entitled `Kaskas' written by one Gerald Garry Renacido xxx.Following the publication of the paper and the magazine, the members of the editorial board,[3] and Relly Carpio, author of Libog, all students of Miriam College, received a letter signed by Dr. Aleli Sevilla, Chair of the Miriam College Discipline Committee. The Letter dated 4 November 1994 stated:
Kaskas, written in Tagalog, treats of the experience of a group of young, male, combo players who, one evening, after their performance went to see a bold show in a place called "Flirtation". This was the way the author described the group's exposure during that stage show:"Sige, sa Flirtation tayo. Happy hour na halos.... he! he! he! sambit ng kanilang bokalistang kanina pa di maitago ang pagkahayok sa karneng babae na kanyang pinananabikan nuong makalawa pa, susog naman ang tropa.
"x x x Pumasok ang unang mananayaw. Si `Red Raven' ayon sa emcee. Nakasuot lamang ng bikining pula na may palamuting dilaw sa gilid-gilid at sa bandang utong. Nagsimula siya sa kanyang pag-giling nang tumugtog na ang unang tono ng "Goodbye" ng Air Supply. Dahan-dahan ang kanyang mga malalantik at mapang-akit na galaw sa una. Mistulang sawa na nililingkis ang hangin, paru-parong padapo-dapo sa mga bulaklak na lamesa, di-upang umamoy o kumuha ng nektar, ngunit para ipaglantaran ang sariling bulaklak at ang angkin nitong malansang nektar.
"Kaskas mo babe, sige ... kaskas."
Napahaling ang tingin ng balerinang huwad kay Mike. Mistulang natipuhan, dahil sa harap niya'y nagtagal. Nag-akmang mag-aalis ng pangitaas na kapirasong tela. Hindi nakahinga si Mike, nanigas sa kanyang kinauupuan, nanigas pati ang nasa gitna ng kanyang hita. Ang mga mata niya'y namagnet sa kayamanang ngayo'y halos isang pulgada lamang mula sa kanyang naglalaway na bunganga. Naputol-putol ang kanyang hininga nang kandungan ni `Red Raven' ang kanyang kanang hita. Lalo naghingalo siya nang kabayuhin ito ng dahan-dahan... Pabilis ng pabilis.'
The author further described Mike's responses to the dancer as follows (quoted in part):x x x Nagsimulang lumaban na ng sabayan si Mike sa dancer. Hindi nagpatalo ang ibong walang pakpak, inipit ng husto ang hita ni Mike at pinag-udyukan ang kanyang dibdib sa mukha nito.
"Kaskas mo pa, kaskas mo pa!"
Palpakan at halagpakan na tawanan ang tumambad sa kanya ng biglang halikan siya nito sa labi at iniwang bigla, upang kanyang muniin ang naudlot niyang pagtikim ng karnal na nektar. Hindi niya maanto kung siya ay nanalo o natalo sa nangyaring sagupaan ng libog. Ang alam lang niya ay nanlata na siya."
After the show the group went home in a car with the bokalista driving. A pedestrian happened to cross the street and the driver deliberately hit him with these words:"Pare tingnan natin kung immortal itong baboy na ito. He! He! He! He! Sabad ng sabog nilang drayber/bokalista."
The story ends (with their car about to hit a truck) in these words: ... "Pare... trak!!! Put....!!!!
Ang Magasing Pampanitikan, October, 1994 issue, was in turn, given the cover title of "Libog at iba pang tula."
In his foreword which Jerome Gomez entitled "Foreplay", Jerome wrote: "Alam ko, nakakagulat ang aming pamagat." Jerome then proceeded to write about previous reactions of readers to women-writers writing about matters erotic and to gay literature. He justified the Magazine's erotic theme on the ground that many of the poems passed on to the editors were about "sekswalidad at iba't ibang karanasan nito." Nakakagulat ang tapang ng mga manunulat... tungkol sa maselang usaping ito xxx at sa isang institusyon pang katulad ng Miriam!"
Mr. Gomez quoted from a poem entitled "Linggo" written by himself:
may mga palangganang nakatiwangwang -
mga putang biyak na sa gitna,
`di na puwedeng paglabhan,
`di na maaaring pagbabaran..."
Gomez stated that the poems in the magazine are not "garapal" and "sa mga tulang ito namin maipagtatanggol ang katapangan (o pagka-sensasyonal) ng pamagat na "Libog at iba pang Tula." He finished "Foreplay" with these words: "Dahil para saan pa ang libog kung hindi ilalabas?"
The cover title in question appears to have been taken from a poem written by Relly Carpio of the same title. The poem dealt on a woman and a man who met each other, gazed at each other, went up close and "Naghalikan, Shockproof." The poem contained a background drawing of a woman with her two mamaries and nipples exposed and with a man behind embracing her with the woman in a pose of passion-filled mien.
Another poem entitled `Virgin Writes Erotic' was about a man having fantasies in his sleep. The last verse said: "At zenith I pull it out and find myself alone in this fantasy." Opposite the page where this poem appeared was a drawing of a man asleep and dreaming of a naked woman (apparently of his dreams) lying in bed on her buttocks with her head up (as in a hospital bed with one end rolled up). The woman's right nipple can be seen clearly. Her thighs were stretched up with her knees akimbo on the bed.
In the next page (page 29) one finds a poem entitled "Naisip ko Lang" by Belle Campanario. It was about a young student who has a love-selection problem: "...Kung sinong pipiliin: ang teacher kong praning, o ang boyfriend kong bading." The word "praning" as the court understands it, refers to a paranoid person; while the word "bading" refers to a sward or "bakla" or "badidang". This poem also had an illustration behind it: of a young girl with large eyes and sloping hair cascading down her curves and holding a peeled banana whose top the illustrator shaded up with downward-slanting strokes. In the poem, the girl wanted to eat banana topped by peanut butter. In line with Jerome's "Foreplay" and by the way it was drawn that banana with peanut butter top was meant more likely than not, to evoke a spiritedly mundane, mental reaction from a young audience.
Another poem entitled "Malas ang Tatlo" by an unknown author went like this:
"Na picture mo na ba
no'ng magkatabi tayong dalawa
sa pantatluhang sofa--
ikaw, the legitimate asawa
at ako, biro mo, ang kerida?
tapos, tumabi siya, shit!
kumpleto na:
ikaw, ako at siya
kulang na lang, kamera."
A poem "Sa Gilid ng Itim" by Gerald Renacido in the Chi-Rho broadsheet spoke of a fox (lobo) yearning for "karneng sariwa, karneng bata, karneng may kalambutan.... isang bahid ng dugong dalaga, maamo't malasa, ipahid sa mga labing sakim sa romansa' and ended with `hinog na para himukin bungang bibiyakin."[2]
This is to inform you that the letters of complain filed against you by members of the Miriam Community and a concerned Ateneo grade five student have been forwarded to the Discipline Committee for inquiry and investigation. Please find enclosed complaints.
As expressed in their complaints you have violated regulations in the student handbook specifically Section 2 letters B and R, pages 30 and 32, Section 4 (Major offenses) letter j, page 36 letters m, n, and p, page 37 and no. 2 (minor offenses) letter a, page 37.
You are required to submit a written statement in answer to the charge/s on or before the initial date of hearing to be held on November 15, 1994, Tuesday, 1:00 in the afternoon at the DSA Conference Room.[4]
1. Jasper Briones Expulsion. Briones is the Editor-in-Chief of Chi-Rho and a 4th year student; 2. Daphne Cowper suspension up to (summer) March, 1995; 3. Imelda Hilario suspension for two (2) weeks to expire on February 2, 1995; 4. Deborah Ligon suspension up to May, 1995. Miss Ligon is a 4th year student and could graduate as summa cum laude; 5. Elizabeth Valdezco suspension up to (summer) March, 1995; 6. Camille Portugal graduation privileges withheld, including diploma. She is an Octoberian; 7. Joel Tan suspension for two (2) weeks to expire on February 2, 1995; 8. Gerald Gary Renacido Expelled and given transfer credentials. He is a 2nd year student. He wrote the fiction story "Kaskas"; 9. Relly Carpio Dismissed and given transfer credentials. He is in 3rd year and wrote the poem "Libog"; 10. Jerome Gomez Dismissed and given transfer credentials. He is in 3rd year. He wrote the foreword "Foreplay" to the questioned Anthology of Poems; and 11. Jose Mari Ramos Expelled and given transfer papers. He is a 2nd year student and art editor of Chi-Rho.[7]
There is nothing in the DECS Order No. 94, S. 1992 dated August 19, 1992 that excludes school Administrators from exercising jurisdiction over cases of the nature involved in the instant petition. R.A. 7079 also does not state anything on the matter of jurisdiction. The DECS undoubtedly cannot determine the extent of the nature of jurisdiction of schools over disciplinary cases. Moreover, as this Court reads that DECS Order No. 94, S. of 1992, it merely prescribes for purposes of internal administration which DECS officer or body shall hear cases arising from R.A. 7079 if and when brought to it for resolution. The said order never mentioned that it has exclusive jurisdiction over cases falling under R.A. 707.[8]
ACCORDINGLY, so as not to render the issues raised moot and academic, let a writ of preliminary injunction issue enjoining the defendants, including the officers and members of the Disciplinary Committee, the Disciplinary Board, or any similar body and their agents, and the officers and members of the Security Department, Division, or Security Agency securing the premises and campus of Miriam College Foundation, Inc. from:
1. Enforcing and/or implementing the expulsion or dismissal resolutions or orders complained of against herein plaintiffs (a) Jasper Briones; (b) Gerald Gary Renacido; (c) Relly Carpio; (d) Jerome Gomez; and (e) Jose Mari Ramos, but otherwise allowing the defendants to impose lesser sanctions on aforementioned plaintiffs; and
2. Disallowing, refusing, barring or in any way preventing the herein plaintiffs (all eleven of them) from taking tests or exams and entering the Miriam campus for such purpose as extended to all students of Miriam College Foundation, Inc.; neither should their respective course or subject teachers or professors withhold their grades, including final grades, if and when they meet the requirements similarly prescribed for all other students, this current 2nd Semester of 1994-95.
The sanctions imposed on the other plaintiffs, namely, Deborah Ligon, Imelda Hilario, Elizabeth Valdezco, Camille Portugal and Daphne Cowper, shall remain in force and shall not be covered by this Injunction: Provided, that Camille Portugal now a graduate, shall have the right to receive her diploma, but defendants are not hereby prevented from refusing her the privilege of walking on the graduation stage so as to prevent any likely public tumults.
The plaintiffs are required to post an injunction bond in the sum of Four Thousand Pesos (P4,000.00) each.
SO ORDERED.[9]
4. On the matter raised by both parties that it is the DECS which has jurisdiction, inasmuch as both parties do not want this court to assume jurisdiction here then this court will not be more popish than the Pope and in fact is glad that it will have one more case out of its docket.
ACCORDINGLY, the instant case is hereby DISMISSED without prejudice to the parties going to another forum.
All orders heretofore issued here are hereby recalled and set aside.
SO ORDERED.[10]
The respondents are hereby required to file comment on the instant petition and to show cause why no writ of preliminary injunction should be issued, within ten (10) days from notice hereof, and the petitioners may file reply thereto within five (5) days from receipt of former's comment.
In order not to render ineffectual the instant petition, let a Temporary Restraining Order be issued enjoining the public respondents from enforcing letters of dismissal/suspension dated January 19, 1995.
SO ORDERED.[13]
While this petition may be considered moot and academic since more than one year have passed since May 19, 1995 when this court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining respondents from enforcing the dismissal and suspension on petitioners....[14]
In order not to render ineffectual the instant petition, let a Temporary Restraining Order be issued enjoining the public respondents from enforcing letters of dismissal/suspension dated January 19, 1995.
[T]he sufficiency and efficacy of a judgment must be tested by its substance rather than its form. In construing a judgment, its legal effects including such effects that necessarily follow because of legal implications, rather than the language used, govern. Also, its meaning, operation, and consequences must be ascertained like any other written instrument. Thus, a judgment rests on the intent of the Court as gathered from every part thereof, including the situation to which it applies and attendant circumstances. (Underscoring supplied.)
A member of the publication staff must maintain his or her status as student in order to retain membership in the publication staff. A student shall not be expelled or suspended solely on the basis of articles he or she has written, or on the basis of the performance of his or her duties in the student publication.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. The Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) shall help ensure and facilitate the proper carrying out of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 7079. It shall also act on cases on appeal brought before it.
The DECS regional office shall have the original jurisdiction over cases as a result of the decisions, actions and policies of the editorial board of a school within its area of administrative responsibility. It shall conduct investigations and hearings on the these cases within fifteen (15) days after the completion of the resolution of each case. (Underscoring supplied.)
I
DEFENDANT`S DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE AND DISCIPLINARY BOARD OF DEFENDANT SCHOOL HAVE NO JURISDICTION OVER THE CASE.[35]II
DEFENDANT SCHOOL'S DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE AND THE DISCIPLINARY BOARD DO NOT HAVE THE QUALIFICATION OF AN IMPARTIAL AND NEUTRAL ARBITER AND, THEREFORE THEIR TAKING COGNIZANCE OF THE CASE AGAINST PLAINTIFFS WILL DENY THE LATTER OF THEIR RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS.[36]
Absent such clarity as to the scope and coverage of its franchise, a legal question arises which is more appropriate for the judiciary than for an administrative agency to resolve. The doctrine of primary jurisdiction calls for application when there is such competence to act on the part of an administrative body. Petitioner assumes that such is the case. That is to beg the question. There is merit, therefore, to the approach taken by private respondents to seek judicial remedy as to whether or not the legislative franchise could be so interpreted as to enable the National Telecommunications Commission to act on the matter. A jurisdictional question thus arises and calls for an answer.
Thus, there can be no doubt that the establishment of an educational institution requires rules and regulations necessary for the maintenance of an orderly educational program and the creation of an educational environment conducive to learning. Such rules and regulations are equally necessary for the protection of the students, faculty, and property.[41]
[All educational institutions] shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country, teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency.[42]
No one can be so myopic as to doubt that the immediate reinstatement of respondent students who have been investigated and found guilty by the Disciplinary Board to have violated petitioner university's disciplinary rules and standards will certainly undermine the authority of the administration of the school. This we would be most loathe to do.
More importantly, it will seriously impair petitioner university's academic freedom which has been enshrined in the 1935, 1973 and the present 1987 Constitution.[45]
Since Garcia vs. Loyola School of Theology, we have consistently upheld the salutary proposition that admission to an institution of higher learning is discretionary upon a school, the same being a privilege on the part of the student rather than a right. While under the Education Act of 1982, students have a right "to freely choose their field of study, subject to existing curricula and to continue their course therein up to graduation," such right is subject, as all rights are, to the established academic and disciplinary standards laid down by the academic institution.
"For private schools have the right to establish reasonable rules and regulations for the admission, discipline and promotion of students. This right ... extends as well to parents... as parents under a social and moral (if not legal) obligation, individually and collectively, to assist and cooperate with the schools."
Such rules are "incident to the very object of incorporation and indispensable to the successful management of the college. The rules may include those governing student discipline." Going a step further, the establishment of the rules governing university-student relations, particularly those pertaining to student discipline, may be regarded as vital, not merely to the smooth and efficient operation of the institution, but to its very survival.
Within memory of the current generation is the eruption of militancy in the academic groves as collectively, the students demanded and plucked for themselves from the panoply of academic freedom their own rights encapsulized under the rubric of "right to education" forgetting that, In Hohfeldian terms, they have the concomitant duty, and that is, their duty to learn under the rules laid down by the school.
xxx. It must be borne in mind that universities are established, not merely to develop the intellect and skills of the studentry, but to inculcate lofty values, ideals and attitudes; may, the development, or flowering if you will, of the total man.
In essence, education must ultimately be religious -- not in the sense that the founders or charter members of the institution are sectarian or profess a religious ideology. Rather, a religious education, as the renowned philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, is 'an education which inculcates duty and reverence.' It appears that the particular brand of religious education offered by the Ateneo de Manila University has been lost on the respondent students.
Certainly, they do not deserve to claim such a venerable institution as the Ateneo de Manila University as their own a minute longer, for they may foreseeably cast a malevolent influence on the students currently enrolled, as well as those who come after them.
Quite applicable to this case is our pronouncement in Yap Chin Fah v. Court of Appeals that: "The maintenance of a morally conducive and orderly educational environment will be seriously imperilled, if, under the circumstances of this case, Grace Christian is forced to admit petitioner's children and to reintegrate them to the student body." Thus, the decision of petitioner university to expel them is but congruent with the gravity of their misdeeds.[46]
The State recognizes the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the educational system and shall exercise reasonable supervision and regulation of all educational institutions.
Petitioners invoke their rights to peaceable assembly and free speech. They are entitled to do so. They enjoy like the rest of the citizens the freedom to express their views and communicate their thoughts to those disposed to listen in gatherings such as was held in this case. They do not, to borrow from the opinion of Justice Fortas in Tinker v. Des Moines Community School District, 'shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.' While, therefore, the authority of educational institutions over the conduct of students must be recognized, it cannot go so far as to be violative of constitutional safeguards. On a more specific level there is persuasive force to this Fortas opinion. "The principal use to which the schools are dedicated is to accommodate students during prescribed hours for the purpose of certain types of activities. Among those activities is personal intercommunication among the students. This is not only inevitable part of the educational process. A student's rights, therefore, do not embrace merely the classroom hours. When he is in the cafeteria, or on the playing field, or on the campus during the authorized hours, he may express his opinions, even on controversial subjects like the conflict in Vietnam, if he does so without 'materially and substantially interfer[ing] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school' and without colliding with the rights of others. * * * But conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason - whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior -- materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech.[49]
6. Objection is made by private respondents to the tenor of the speeches by the student leaders. That there would be a vigorous presentation of view opposed to the proposed merger of the Institute of Animal Science with the Institute of Agriculture was to be expected. There was no concealment of the fact that they were against such a move as it confronted them with a serious problem ('isang malaking suliranin.") They believed that such a merger would result in the increase in tuition fees, an additional headache for their parents ('isa na naman sakit sa ulo ng ating mga magulang.") If in the course of such demonstration, with an enthusiastic audience goading them on, utterances extremely critical at times, even vitriolic, were let loose, that is quite understandable. Student leaders are hardly the timid, diffident types. They are likely to be assertive and dogmatic. They would be ineffective if during a rally they speak in the guarded and judicious language of the academe. At any rate, even a sympathetic audience is not disposed to accord full credence to their fiery exhortations. They take into account the excitement of the occasion, the propensity of speakers to exaggerate, the exuberance of youth. They may give the speakers the benefit of their applause, but with the activity taking place in the school premises and during the daytime, no clear and present danger of public disorder is discernible. This is without prejudice to the taking of disciplinary action for conduct, which, to borrow from Tinker, "materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others."[55]
xxx
4. That the claim of the petitioner, that we have not employed the TRO issued by the Court of Appeals in filing for reinstatement or gaining entry into the campus premises, is completely false and misleading. The truth of the matter being that members of our group had initially tried to gain admittance into the school premises but were barred from doing so by the guards who claimed it was for security reasons, as mandated on them [sic] by the petitioners.
xxx
6. Except for the two [referring to Jose Mari Ramos and Elizabeth Valdezco], we have stopped schooling and we are waiting for the case to be resolved to continue our studies and finish the courses we started. We need only a year or two to do it.
xxx
8. We respectfully petition the court to admit this affidavit as proof against the petitioners' [sic] false manifestation. We hope that the facts we have provided will help clear the cloud of confusion intentionally raised by the petitioners through their allegations. We also hope that they be held in contempt of their attempt to intentionally mislead the honorable court. And we also pray that the court grant the speedy resolution of the case in our favor, thereby facilitating in [sic] our long-awaited vindication.
On October 21, 1998, the Court resolved to require the petitioner to file a Sur-Rejoinder within ten (10) days from notice, directing the petitioner to address in particular the above statements of private respondents in their "Joint Affidavit." Petitioner, however, never filed the required Sur-Rejoinder and we resolve to dispense with the same.