The Department of Justice (DOJ) declared that the law on government assistance to students and teachers in private schools enacted in 1989 remains enforceable.
In a legal opinion, the DOJ stressed that Republic Act No. 6728 also known as the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act (GASTPE), has not been repealed by Republic Act 8545 or the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Schools (EGASTPE) of 1998.
Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez signed the legal opinion on behalf of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
“After a careful review of RA No. 6728 and RA No. 8545, we opine that the latter did not repeal the former,” Vasquez said.
The legal opinion was sought by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo to clarify if RA 6728 has been repealed by RA 8545 since the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Culture is currently in the process of studying a substitute bill that will amend EGASTPE.
Citing RA 8545, Vasquez said the GASTPE’s repealing clause states that: “All laws and decrees, particularly Presidential Decree Nos. 932 and 1371, and such letters of instructions, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.”
“In our view, it is clear that RA No. 8545 explicitly repealed Presidential Decree Nos. 932 and 1371 only. We echo the Supreme Court’s pronouncement in a long line of cases that when the law is clear and free from any doubt or ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning or applied according to its express terms, without any attempted interpretation,” he said.
Vasquez noted that GASTPE and EGASTPE “do not appear to be inconsistent with each other that would lead to the conclusion of an implied repeal of RA No. 6728.”
He pointed out that it is clear that “the legislative intent of RA 8545 is to merely expand the coverage of RA No. 6728.”
According to Vasquez, GASTPE was enacted “to provide government assistance to students and teachers in private basic elementary and secondary education” while, in EGASTPE, “the coverage of the government assistance was expanded even to post-secondary vocational and technical education and higher education, and provided salary subsidy to teachers in private high schools.”
The DOJ official said that EGASTPE also provides “new provisions, deleted one, and renumbered some, but the principles of RA 6728 remain.”
