case no.

278

UE vs Pepanio
G.R. No. 193897
January 23, 2013
Article III

FACTS:

Some time in 1992, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports issued the Revised
Manual of Regulations for Private Schools which requires that college faculty members have a
master’s degree as minimum educational requirement to acquire regular status. Thereafter, in 1994,
petitioner University of the East and the UE Faculty Association entered into a Collective
Bargaining Agreement valid for five years which provided that only semester-to-semester
appointments will be extended to college faculty staff who do not possess the minimum educational
requirement.

In February1996, DECS-CHED-TESDA-DOLE Joint Order 1 was issued reiterating the

policy stated in the said Manual. Pursuant to this, the UE president issued a University Policy
saying that from School Year 1996-1997, it will only hire faculty who have not attained the
minimum educational requirement in the absence of any other applicant, on a semester-to-semester
basis. In 1997, petitioner hired private respondent Mariti Bueno, and in 200 private respondent
Analiza Pepanio. Both private respondents were hired on a semester-to-semester basis. In 2001, UE
and private respondents entered into a new CBA and both parties agreed that the school will extend
probationary full-time appointments to full-time faculty members who do not have the required
postgraduate degree provided that they comply with such requirement during their employment.
Other than said policy, the CBA also gave UE the authority to replace these employees if a qualified
teacher becomes available at the end of the semester. In 2003, their probationary period expired and
were not renewed because they failed to comply with the minimum educational qualification
requirement.

Private respondents filed a petition for illegal dismissal to the Labor Arbiter, who ruled in
their favor. Petitioner filed an appeal in the NLRC, which reversed the decision of the LA. Then,
private respondents raised the issue to the Court of Appeals, which reinstated the ruling of the LA.
Hence, this petition.

ISSUE:
Whether or not UE illegally dismissed Bueno and Pepanio

RATIO + RULING:
NO.
Said policy was implemented in 1992 through the Manual of Regulations. Furthermore, the
CBA that was in force was the one executed in 1994, and it was stated in the said CBA that faculty
who do not possess the minimum requirement shall be hired only on a semester-to-semester basis.
Private respondents were hired only in 1997 and 2000. Respondents were given only semester-to-
semester appointments from the beginning of their employment because they lacked the required
master's degree. It was only in 2001 when a new CBA was signed that the school extended
petitioners a conditional probationary status subject to their obtaining a master's degree within their
probationary period. It is clear, therefore, that the parties intended to subject respondents' permanent

Prepared by: Cheza Marie Biliran !1

case no. 278

status appointments to the standards set by the law and the university. The non-renewal of their
contracts were based on their failure to comply with the said requirement.

Furthermore, the Court ruled that the said requirement is not unreasonable and that the
operation of educational institutions involves matters of public interest. It is reasonable for the
government to regulate such field so as to prevent ill-prepared teachers to protect students and the
entirety of the public.

The petition is GRANTED.

Prepared by: Cheza Marie Biliran !2