Teachers group decry harassment

MEMBERS of the progressive Alliance of Concerned Teachers are appealing to officials of the Department of Education to stop theirwitch-hunt on them.

“We are just simple teachers who fight for our rights and are anti-corruption advocates,” said Antonia Lim, Central Visayas (CV) president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).

ACT is reacting to the anti-insurgency awareness seminar for teachers being done by the Department of Education (DepEd) in coordination with the Central Command of the Armed Forces.

Bernabe Sabejon, ACT vice president for Central Visayas, said they will be questioning before Education Secretary Armin Luistro the seminar done for public school teachers.

Lim said the DepEd has launched the witch hunt after alleged subversive documents were supposedly discovered from the files of former ACT-CV president William Alterado.

“We don’t believe that these documents really exist because they said the documents were discovered last month while Mr. Alterado is living in the US for almost three years already,” Lim said.

ACT member Raymundo Abapo of Guadalupe Elementary School meanwhile alleged that he experienced discrimination from the DepEd in his application for a higher teaching post.

“In my school, I was ranked first, but I was shocked because my rank lowered down when I applied for a higher teaching position,” Abapo said, adding he elevated the case to the Ombudsman.