(Photo from ACT Teachers party-list)
On World Teachers’ Day, legislators representing teachers nationwide admonished Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde for attempting to school professors about nationalism.
ACT Teachers Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro strongly condemned Albayalde over his remark that seemingly threaten educators.
Albayalde earlier said professors encouraging their students to entertain “rebellious” ideas could find themselves facing contempt charges.
READ: Professors promoting ‘rebellious’ ideas may face contempt — Albayalde
But, Tinio and Castro stressed, the goal of teachers is to aid and guide their students to become critical thinkers for social transformation, not blind followers of government.
“We strongly condemn these threats and accusations made by Albayalde, as they violate the academic freedom of teachers, place a chilling effect on political dissent, and endanger the lives of teachers,” Tinio said in a statement. “The teachers’ role and duty is to guide and aid students to attain a critical mind for social transformation.”
For her part, Castro said the PNP cannot blame the teachers if their students are bold enough to fight the “rotting system of government under the Duterte administration.”
“Teachers tell their students to not to kill, be kind to others and to not be agents of the oppressors. If those simple teachings lead students to rebel, then there must be something wrong with the government,” she added.
The opposition lawmaker also warned the government against using teachers to “revise history and teach the fake news that government officials, including the military and the police have been trying to spread.”
Tinio then lamented how the salaries of teachers and professors remain insufficient compared to their sacrifices, and amid the rising rate of inflation.
“The chief PNP cannot school our teachers on sacrificing their lives because there are sacrifices in teaching as well,” he added.
Tinio and Castro marched to Mendiola along with about 2,000 teachers to stand against the “overworked yet underpaid status of teachers amidst TRAIN-induced inflation.” /kga