MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Saturday denied the allegations that it is targeting and profiling members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).
DepEd earlier drew flak for its memorandum to all regional directors and all schools division superintendents, requesting for the submission of the list of ACT Union-affiliated teachers who are availing of DepEd’s automatic payroll deduction system (APDS).
In a statement issued on Saturday, DepEd said the allegations that the memorandum was intended to profile the members of ACT Union as part of a supposed government “anti-insurgency campaign” are “absurd,” “distorted,” and “followed no logic.”
To set things straight, DepEd said the only reason why they are consolidating the list is to improve DepEd’s Human Resources Systems.
“While a memorandum sought the list of ACT Union members, separate requests were also made for the list of members of other unions, organizations, and associations of teaching and non-teaching personnel availing of the APDS,” said DepEd.
“This is especially relevant amidst the regular complaints from employees over inaccurate, questionable, and unwarranted salary deductions for loan remittances and membership dues. There is simply no effort or intention to purposely target members of ACT Union,” it concluded.
In a separate statement, House Minority leader and ACT party-list Representative France Castro condemned DepEd’s order, calling it an “attempt to silence ACT’s voice and intimidate members from exercising their right to free speech.”