Punish those behind ‘dirty’ learning module – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said he would want to “punish” and “slap” those responsible for a teaching module that used “dirty names,” especially after the content went viral on Facebook.

“About a good percentage of our students are really dependent on Facebook and whatever learning they could get from there. But you know, democracy comes with a price,” Duterte said in a televised speech.

Claiming that the module came from a private school, he said there must be some “punishment for its creator.”

“I was asking earlier, we were talking what sort of punishment. If it’s a minor, we’ll have to deal with a minor. But if it’s an adult, send that person to Manila and I will slap him,” he said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año informed Duterte that the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine National Police were investigating the incident.

Sexual innuendos

Last week, a Facebook user posted a photo of the module and asked why it used names with sexual innuendos as possible answers to a question.

The module was traced to a Catholic school in Palauig, Zambales province, and the teacher who wrote the material had been asked to resign as the local diocese started to investigate the matter.

Fr. Raymann Catindig, superintendent of the Association of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Iba (ACSDI), said the teacher’s case would undergo due process.

A priest has taken over the teacher’s place and the learning module has been withdrawn for revision.

Distance learning

Catindig said other school personnel were asked to explain the extent of their participation in the production of the module, which was intended for senior high school students under the DepEd distance learning program.

Earlier, Education Secretary Leonor Briones had described the learning material as “dirty” and was “not appropriate at all.”

“It’s really a sabotage of our programs. It put us in a bad light,” Briones said during a budget hearing at the Senate last week.

—Julie Aurelio and Joanna Rose Aglibot