MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has ordered the recall of a forwarding letter of a supposed police memorandum directing the inventory members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).
The DepEd in a statement on Monday said that the recall came after ACT representatives raised concerns over two endorsements by DepEd Schools Division Offices (SDO) of a supposed memo from the Philippine National Police (PNP) that ordered the profiling of teachers associated with the ACT.
“In consultation with the concerned Regional Office, the recall of this forwarding letter has been directed,” DepEd said.
The DepEd also confirmed that a letter addressed to school heads was issued through an acting division superintendent by one SDO.
However, DepEd clarified that its central office had not received such request from the PNP.
“Initial feedback from the field shows that there is no other similar forwarding letter which has been issued by any other DepEd local unit,” it said.
DepEd added that should it receive any inter-agency request for personal information of individuals, such a request would be evaluated based on relevant laws and regulations, including the Data Privacy Act.
READ: Hands off our teachers, ACT tells PNP
Earlier, ACT called on DepEd to take a stand against the supposed profiling of its members by police forces, citing that any information gathered by authorities might be used to intimidate or harass teacher-unionists. /atm