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Ebralinag vs.

The Division Superintendent of Schools of Cebu


G.R. No. 95770 March 1, 1993
Facts:
All the petitioners in these two cases were expelled from their classes
by the public school authorities in Cebu for refusing to salute the flag, sing
the national anthem and recite the patriotic pledge as required by Republic
Act No. 1265 and DECS Department Order No. 8 which stipulated
compulsory flag ceremonies in all educational institutions. Jehovah's
Witnesses admittedly teach their children not to salute the flag, sing the
national anthem, and recite the patriotic pledge for they believe that those
are "acts of worship" or "religious devotion" which they "cannot
conscientiously give . . . to anyone or anything except God". They consider
the flag as an image or idol representing the State. They allege that the
action of the local authorities in compelling the flag salute and pledge
transcends constitutional limitations on the State's power and invades the
sphere of the intellect and spirit which the Constitution protects against
official control. In requiring school pupils to participate in the flag salute,
the State thru the Secretary of Education is not imposing a religion or
religious belief or a religious test on said students. It is merely enforcing a
non-discriminatory school regulation applicable to all alike. Under the
Administrative Code of 1987, Any teacher or student or pupil who refuses to
join or participate in the flag ceremony may be dismissed after due
investigation. In 1989, the DECS Regional Office in Cebu received
complaints about teachers and pupils belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses,
and enrolled in various public and private schools, who refused to sing the
Philippine national anthem, salute the Philippine flag and recite the
patriotic pledge. Cebu school officials resorted to a number of ways to
persuade the children of Jehovah's Witnesses to obey the memorandum. In
the Buenavista Elementary School, the children were asked to sign an
Agreement promising to sing the national anthem, place their right hand on
their breast until the end of the song and recite the pledge of allegiance to
the flag. However, things took a turn for the worst. In the Daan Bantayan
District, the District Supervisor, Manuel F. Biongcog, ordered the "dropping
from the rolls" of students who "opted to follow their religious belief which
is against the Flag Salute Law" on the theory that "they forfeited their right
to attend public schools." 43 students were subsequently expelled after
refusing to sing. The petition in G.R. No. 95887 was filed by 25 students
who were similarly expelled because Dr. Pablo Antopina, who succeeded
Susana Cabahug as Division Superintendent of Schools, would not recall the
expulsion orders of his predecessor. Instead, he verbally caused the
expulsion of some more children of Jehovah's Witnesses. The petitioning
students filed on account of grave abuse of discretion on the part of the
respondents in violating their due process and their right to education. They
alleged for the nullity of the expulsion or dropping from the rolls of
petitioners from their respective schools, prohibiting respondents from
further barring the petitioners from their classes, and compelling the
respondent and all persons acting for him to admit and order the readmission of petitioners to their respective schools. They also prayed for a
TRO. On November 27, 1990, the Court issued a TRO and a writ of
preliminary mandatory injunction commanding the respondents to
immediately re-admit the petitioners to their respective classes until further
orders from this Court. The OSG commented on the defense of the
expulsion orders and claimed that the flag salute was devoid of any
religious significance and the State had compelling interests to expel the
children.

Issue:
Whether school children who are members of Jehovah's Witnesses
may be expelled from school (both public and private), for refusing, on
account of their religious beliefs, to take part in the flag ceremony which
includes playing or singing the Philippine national anthem, saluting the
Philippine flag and reciting the patriotic pledge.
Held:
No. Religious freedom is a fundamental right which is entitled to the
highest priority and the amplest protection among human rights, for it
involves the relationship of man to his Creator. The right to religious
profession and worship has a two-fold aspect, vis., freedom to believe and
freedom to act on one's belief. The first is absolute as long as the belief is
confined within the realm of thought. The second is subject to regulation
where the belief is translated into external acts that affect the public
welfare. Petitioners stress, however, that while they do not take part in the
compulsory flag ceremony, they do not engage in "external acts" or behavior
that would offend their countrymen who believe in expressing their love of
country through the observance of the flag ceremony. The sole justification
for a prior restraint or limitation on the exercise of religious freedom is the
existence of a grave and present danger of a character both grave and
imminent, of a serious evil to public safety, public morals, public health or
any other legitimate public interest, that the State has a right and a duty to
prevent. We are not persuaded that by exempting the Jehovah's Witnesses
from saluting the flag, singing the national anthem and reciting the patriotic
pledge, this religious group which admittedly comprises a "small portion of
the school population" will shake up our part of the globe and suddenly
produce a nation "untaught and uninculcated in and unimbued with
reverence for the flag, patriotism, love of country and admiration for
national heroes. Expelling or banning the petitioners from Philippine
schools will bring about the very situation that this Court had feared in
Gerona. Forcing a small religious group, through the iron hand of the law, to
participate in a ceremony that violates their religious beliefs, will hardly be
conducive to love of country or respect for dully constituted authorities.
Furthermore, let it be noted that coerced unity and loyalty even to the
country, assuming that such unity and loyalty can be attained through
coercion, is not a goal that is constitutionally obtainable at the expense of
religious liberty. A desirable end cannot be promoted by prohibited means.
Moreover, the expulsion of members of Jehovah's Witnesses from the
schools where they are enrolled will violate their right as Philippine
citizens, under the 1987 Constitution, to receive free education, for it is the
duty of the State to "protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality
education . . . and to make such education accessible to all. We hold 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. Paraphrasing the warning cited by this
Court in Non vs. Dames II, while the highest regard must be afforded their
right to the free exercise of their religion, "this should not be taken to mean
that school authorities are powerless to discipline them" if they should
commit breaches of the peace by actions that offend the sensibilities, both
religious and patriotic, of other persons. If they quietly stand at attention
during the flag ceremony while their classmates and teachers salute the
flag, sing the national anthem and recite the patriotic pledge, we do not see

how such conduct may possibly disturb the peace, or pose "a grave and
present danger of a serious evil to public safety, public morals, public health
or any other legitimate public interest that the State has a right (and duty)
to prevent.

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