EBRALINAG V.

DIVISION SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS OF CEBU

PADILLA J. – CONCURRING OPINION | G.R. No. 95770. March 1, 1993
Topic 1: Freedom of Religion – Meaning, Purpose, Importance and Aspects
Nature: (Please see the ponencia)

PARTIES:
Please see the ponencia.

DISPUTED MATTER:
Please see the ponencia.

OPINIONS:

PADILLA, J., concurring:

1. Concurred on the following point of the ponencia:

That school teachers and students who cannot salute the flag, sing the national anthem and
recite the pledge of loyalty to the country, on grounds of religious belief or conviction, may not
on this ground alone be dismissed from the service or expelled from the school.

2. Concerned with what could be the far-reaching consequences of said ruling:

In that, it may in effect be sanctioning a privileged or elite class of teachers and students who
will hereafter be exempt from participating, even when they are in the school premises, in the
flag ceremony in deference to their religious scruples.

a. What happens, for instance, if some citizens, based also on their religious beliefs, were to
refuse to pay taxes and license fees to the government? Perhaps problems of this nature
should not be anticipated. They will be resolved when and if they ever arise. But with
today's decision, we may have created more problems than we have solved.
b. It cannot also be denied that the State has the right and even the duty to promote among
its citizens, especially the youth, love and country, respect for the flag and reverence for
its national heroes.
c. It cannot also be disputed that the State has the right to adopt reasonable means by which
these laudable objectives can be effectively pursued and achieved. The flag ceremony is
one such device intended to inspire patriotism and evoke the finest sentiments of love of
country and people.
d. In fine, the flag ceremony is a legitimate means to achieve legitimate (and noble) ends.
For a select few to be exempt from the flag ceremony and all that it represent seven if the
exemption is predicated on respect for religious scruples, could be divisive in its impact on
the school population or community.
 3. Submits that:

a. Henceforth, teachers and students who because of religious scruples or beliefs cannot
actively participate in the flag ceremony conducted in the school premises should be
excluded beforehand from such ceremony.
b. Instead of allowing the religious objector to attend the flag ceremony and display therein
his inability to salute the flag, sing the national anthem and recite the pledge of loyalty to
the Republic, he or she should remain in the classroom while honors to the flag are
conducted and manifested in the "quadrangle" or equivalent place within school premises;
or if the flag ceremony must be held in a hall, the religious objector must take his or her
place at the rear of (or outside) the hall while those who actively participate in the ceremony
must take the front places.
c. This arrangement can, in his view, achieve an accommodation and, to a certain
extent, harmonization of a citizen's constitutional right to freedom of religion and a
valid exercise of the State's fundamental and legitimate authority to require homage
and honor to the flag as the symbol of the Nation.

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HELPFUL INFORMATION

DOCTRINE:
NONE

DEFINITION OF TERMS:
NONE

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
NONE

ANNEX: NONE