ON THE ANTAGONISM OF THE ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS PARTY-LIST AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATI

JG July 03, 2023

Press Statement National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed ConflictLegal Cooperation Cluster LCC-PS-2023-035

The Legal Cooperation Cluster (LCC) of the National Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) stands firm in supporting the Vice President, NTF-ELCAC Co-Vice Chair, and Secretary of Education Sara Duterte in her resolute stance against the hypocrisy, fallacies, propaganda, and deceptions that are continuously trumpeted by the Alliance of Concerned Teacher Party-List (ACT).

It is a glaring anomaly that despite being formally incorporated in the Philippine Government as a Party-List in the House of Representatives, ACT has consistently taken an antagonistic approach against the government of the Republic, especially the Department of Education (DEPED) and its Secretary. Rather than working hand-in-hand with the country’s education arm in the pursuit of genuinely serving the interest of its supposed constituents, ACT has instead embarked on wasting its energy and resources on vilifying the DEPED, the Vice President, and even the NTF-ELCAC.

Consistent with Vice President Sara Duterte’s observation, we note that ACT, which claims to represent teachers in the House of Representatives, has already been in Congress for twelve (12) years, yet seems to be lacking with respect to its genuine contribution to the education sector. Despite being in Congress for more than a decade, the education sector, which ACT claims to champion, remains beset with perennial problems such as the financial woes of public school personnel, among others.

Recently, ACT has been preoccupied with reviling the DEPED and Vice President Sara Duterte for the alleged “profiling operation” being conducted by the Department with regard to teachers affiliated with ACT. Moreover, ACT has been playing victim and claiming that it was “red-tagged” by the Vice President as a CPP-NPA front organization.

What ACT fails to realize, however, is that “red-tagging” is legally inexistent and that the Vice President is merely unmasking its real identity, in order to warn the parents of Filipino children, and ultimately, protect the safety, welfare, and well-being of the Filipino youth against the deceptions, manipulation, and propaganda of the CTGs and its front organizations. In any case, Vice President Sara Duterte’s remarks against ACT are not baseless and malicious statements but are backed by evidence, particularly the personal accounts of former CPP-NPA-NDF members and cadres who have returned to the fold of law. Certainly, the Philippine Government and its agencies, instrumentalities, and bodies have the responsibility to protect the Filipino people, especially the youth, in keeping with the principle of parens patriae.

We call on the stakeholders of the Philippine education system, parents of Filipino school children, and Filipino students themselves, to rally behind the DEPED and the Vice President, who are relentless on effectively implementing genuine and lasting reforms in the education sector, and to unequivocally reject the machinations, deceptions, and propaganda of the CTGs and their affiliates, including ACT.

At the same time, we call on ACT to examine its hostility against the DEPED and the Vice President. Rather than undermining the Department and the Philippine Government as a whole, ACT should rather view the DEPED as a partner in ensuring lasting reforms for the teachers which ACT claims to represent.

If ACT is truly on the side of the Filipino people, and not in the same league with the CTGs and their front organizations, as it claims to be, ACT must make a conscious effort to condemn the atrocities and criminal acts inflicted by the CPP-NPA-NDF against school children, especially the members of the Indigenous Groups, teachers in rural areas, and Filipino civilians, in general, who have borne the brunt of the evils committed by the CTGs.