MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals has granted the petition of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to nullify the temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction secured by a maritime school to allow it to accept enrollees despite the commission's closure order.
The CA's special 13th division has nullified the TRO issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 105 Judge Rosa Samson, allowing the Philippine Maritime Institute Colleges to continue accepting enrollees.
The CHED issued a closure order against PMI for the school's non-compliant BS Marine Transportation and BS Maring Engineering courses.
CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan said she welcomes the CA ruling.
"It affirms the necessary and valuable support of the judicial system to the legitimate reforms pursued by CHED, particularly in Maritime Education, which have very serious implications for the employment of our Filipino seafarers in the international maritime industry," Licuanan said.
Several rounds of inspection from 2006 to 2010 revealed that the PMI programs were consistently non-compliant with the standards of CHED and the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.
In 2010, the European Maritime Safety Agency conducted an independent audit of maritime schools in the country, and found PMI to be grossly deficient.
The Quezon City RTC issued in 2012 an injunction and TRO in favor of the PMI, effectively preventing the CHED from implementing its Final Closure Order of the Institute’s deficient maritime programs.
The CA nullified the TRO and the writ of preliminary injunction, saying that the issuance of the lower court's order was a grave abuse of discretion since it did not satisfy the three requirements under the law for its issuance.
The CA also ruled that the PMI does not have a clear legal right since the CHED had revoked government recognition of its programs due to several uncorrected deficiencies over the years.
The appellate court also maintained that the CHED is authorized by law to impose sanctions on educational institutions which fail to comply with its requirements.
As to the need for the injunction, the CA found no urgent and paramount need since the closure orders had been issued and fully implemented before Judge Samson issued the order.
With the CA ruling, Licuanan said the Final Closure Orders on PMI’s BSMT and BSMarE programs in its Manila and Quezon City campuses remain valid.
"The public is hereby forewarned that students who desire to enroll in BSMT and BSMarE programs should enroll only in schools with programs that are officially recognized by CHED," Licuanan said.