The Court of Appeals gave the Santo Ni帽o Parochial School (SNPS) 24 hours to explain why it should not be cited in contempt of court for initially refusing to issue Certificate of Good Moral Character (CGMC) to its salutatorian Krisel S. Mallari.
Appeals Court second division issued the order after Mallari through Public Attorney鈥檚 Office (PAO) Chief Persida Acosta filed an urgent motion after the school聽refused to comply with the court鈥檚 ruling.
The school has already issued the CGMC to Mallari late聽Thursday聽but it has yet to inform the court of its compliance.
READ: School issues character certificate to Krisel Mallari
鈥淚n this regard, respondents SNPS and Registrar Yolanda Casero are directed to file comment鈥ithin 24 hours from notice, taking into consideration that time is of the essence,鈥� the appeals court through Associate Justice 聽Socorro B. Inting said in a resolution made public聽Friday.
The appeals court, in its July 29 order said SNPS鈥� refusal to issue CGMC shows its 鈥渃hronic lack of concern to a child who it has reared for 11 years.鈥� The appeals court order is immediately executory聽 because 鈥渢ime is of the essence.鈥�
READ: CA orders school to certify good character of Krisel Mallari
It added that it issued the order to the school because 鈥淜risel鈥檚 welfare is of paramount interest and of primordial consideration and the State is mandated to act on her behalf to ensure that her rights are protected and her dreams and hopes are not put to waste.鈥�
Acosta said, contrary to the school鈥檚 claim that it has yet to receive a copy of the court鈥檚 order, SNPS has already received from the Court of Appeals鈥� process server a copy of the decision.
In March, a video of Mallari delivering her speech before she was stopped by her class adviser and school officials went viral after it was uploaded on social network sites. She later said in subsequent media interviews that her speech would have touched on alleged irregularities in the computation of her grades. The school, however, denied her claim and accused her and her father of being difficult. IDL
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