MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has denied a request of the Makati City government to administer and manage three schools located in the enlisted men’s barrio or “embo” barangays, which are now under the jurisdiction of Taguig City.
In a letter to Makati Mayor Abby Binay, DepEd Undersecretary for operations Revsee Escobedo said Makati’s request to administer and manage Makati Science High School, Fort Bonifacio Elementary School and Fort Bonifacio High School is “lacking in legal basis and justification.”
Escobedo said Makati’s request, if granted, would contravene both the Constitution and the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, which provide that the governance of basic education is a national government mandate.
DepEd said all “embo” public schools fall under the jurisdiction of the national government and must be administered and managed by DepEd Taguig since they have been placed under the jurisdiction of the city after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in favor of Taguig.
It said Makati cannot rely on its claim of ownership over the school land, school building, facilities and equipment since this was not a consideration when the SC ruled on the Makati-Taguig territorial dispute.
The department also noted that DepEd, Taguig and Makati forged a memorandum of agreement in which they agreed that the issue of ownership should be left to the final determination of the courts.
DepEd said that allowing Makati’s request would violate the SC decision and may invite the sanction of contempt for disobeying the high tribunal’s court order.
“While this office acknowledges the commendable intent of LGU Makati to support the learners, this office must uphold rule of law and is therefore constrained to recommend the denial of its request,” the DepEd letter read, referring to the local government unit.
“LGU Makati is, however, not precluded from seeking recourse to other remedies available under law, as it may deem fit,” it added.
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