The Supreme Court has found Mother Goose Special School System, Inc., a school in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, civilly liable for negligence in a 2007 punching incident involving grade school students.
According to the SC decision released Monday, April 28, the incident occurred on January 26, 2007, when Rhys Palaganas was punched multiple times by classmates Noel Fernandez and Mark Dy over a borrowed pencil.
A few days earlier, on January 19, Fernandez lost his mechanical pencil, which Palaganas later found and took home. When Fernandez saw Rhys using it, he allowed him to borrow it, as Rhys had no pencil at the time. However, Rhys forgot to return it.
On the day of the incident, Fernandez asked for the pencil, which Rhys again forgot at home. Dy then punched Rhys on the left arm three times, followed by Fernandez with two punches, then Dy again with three more, and finally Fernandez with another three.
The assault happened while their teacher, Gerald Gomez, was in the comfort room.
On January 29, Rhys reported the incident to his Hekasi teacher, Mark Anthony Gallardo, but no action was taken.
On February 1, a classmate noticed Rhys’ bruises and reported it to their adviser, “Teacher Cecil,” who investigated and got the two students to admit to the punching.
That afternoon, Gloria Fernandez, Noel’s mother, called Villa Palaganas, Rhys’ mother, to apologize—marking the first time Rhys’ parents learned of the incident.
The next day, the Palaganases filed a complaint to the school but were ignored. On February 7, Samuel Palaganas sent a letter to Principal Julia Palaroan requesting an investigation, but nothing was done.
A follow-up letter on February 26 led to a report filled with inconsistencies— stating in the report that Fernandez is allegedly innocent of the charges while Dy was cleared of all charges and his parents were not made to sign the violation action report notwithstanding that he was the one who threw six punches while Fernandez threw five.
The principal also dismissed the incident as mere “teasing,” part of growing up. A requested reinvestigation yielded the same results.
Aggrieved, Samuel filed a Complaint for Damages against Calixto Fernandez, Noel’s father; Bernabe Dy, Mark’s father; Mother Goose School, represented by Dr. Aurora Samson-Reyna; Palaroan; Gomez; and Gallardo.
RTC and CA rulings
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) held Mother Goose School and Mr. Gomez solidarily liable, citing the incident’s occurrence on school premises during class hours.
The school was found negligent for failing to prevent the incident.
While Calixto Fernandez’s motion for reconsideration was denied, the school and Mr. Gomez appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA), which upheld the RTC ruling with modifications.
It cleared Gomez, as he was in the restroom at the time, but affirmed the school’s negligence.
The CA also classified the case as bullying under the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 and reduced the damages.
SC Decision
In its ruling, the SC rejected the school’s claim that it bore no legal obligation to the Palaganas.
The Court found the school failed in its duty to provide a safe learning environment.
It cited poor handling of the incident, lack of protocols, failure to inform parents, delayed and inaccurate investigations, and absence of disciplinary action.
The SC affirmed the lower court’s ruling with modifications, ordering the school to pay ₱300,000 in moral damages, ₱200,000 in exemplary damages, and ₱150,000 in attorney’s fees, with 6% annual legal interest.
Avoidable
Considering that the incident happened in 2007 and the legal process took until 2025, both parties went through a lot of easily avoidable hassle for many years just because the school downplayed the incident.
This case should serve as a warning to learning institutions that bullying complaints and cases should be taken seriously.
There will always be bullies, but there should never be negligent schools.
This is also a go signal for victims of bullying to step up and speak up to school authorities when they are being bullied—and if school authorities make the same mistake as Mother Goose School, then this case can come in handy.
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