CAMPAIGN COLORS? As a respite from the heat, the Department of Education has listed several collared shirts teachers may use. A teachers’ group, however, said some of the shirts would make them look like campaign managers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Monday that teaching and nonteaching personnel could wear collared shirts as alternate uniforms amid rising temperatures across the country that led to the suspension of in-person classes.
In DepEd Memorandum 2024-0662 dated April 11, the agency gave all teachers and nonteaching personnel the option to wear “comfortable clothing” to get some relief from the heat.
Their options included existing DepEd collared shirts used during official events and activities like Brigada Eskwela, Palarong Pambansa, Oplan Balik Eskwela and conferences, among others. Also listed was white collared shirts with the DepEd and “Matatag” logos.
Matatag refers to the recalibrated curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10 launched by the department.
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The shirts, according to the memorandum, must be paired with matte black pants of any fabric or textile, such as jeans, slacks and cargo pants, with the alternative uniform compliant with the dress code rules set by the Civil Service Commission. This meant that leggings, jogging pants and tights were prohibited.
“The wearing of the said alternate uniform shall be allowed until such time that a memorandum is issued superseding this issuance,” said the memo, a copy of which was found by the Inquirer on the website of DepEd Cordillera Administrative Region.
In response to DepEd announcement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) reiterated its call for the agency to allow teachers, nonteaching personnel and even students to dress in their preferred comfortable alternatives.
‘Uncomfortable’
ACT Chair Vladimer Quetua, a teacher himself, said that some of the collared shirts mentioned by the DepEd had been issued to them before.
But the fabric for the white collared shirt with the DepEd and “Matatag” logos, however, was “uncomfortable.”
“To be honest, that shirt has a thick and uncomfortable fabric, and for the DepEd to require us to wear it would be uncomfortable,” Quetua said in a phone interview, adding that the other collared shirts mentioned made them seem like “campaign managers for the Marcos-Duterte team.”
Color choices questioned
From the samples shown by the DepEd, the Palarong Pambansa collared shirt is red, while the one for Oplan Balik Eskwela is green. These were the campaign colors of President Marcos and Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte in the May 2022 national elections. Marcos used red, while Duterte’s was green.
“Their announcement seemed like that they want teachers to become campaign managers for the UniTeam,” Quetua said.
According to him, DepEd should ensure that teachers and nonteaching personnel will not be “financially burdened by having to adhere to their set guidelines.”
“What we are asking is for the DepEd to ease this policy and we hope that this will be revised to allow us to wear choices of clothing that would remain compliant with our civil service rules,” Quetua pointed out.