INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — An investigative team has been formed by the Department of Education (DepEd) to probe the case of a teacher who hit three Grade 9 students in Lubao, Pampanga, an official said on Thursday.
In a video taken by another student inside the classroom that made the rounds on social media on Tuesday, the teacher was shown hitting the students with her hands.
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“So ‘yong ating regional director po ay nakapag-issue na ng order to form a fact-finding team, in fact pinapa-fast track po natin ‘yan,” DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said in a radio interview in Radyo 630.
(Our regional director has issued a fact-finding team; we already have ordered it fast-tracked.)
Poa added that the teacher apologized for the incident and that the division office spoke with the students’ parents.
The teacher also took a personal leave.
“[A]ng pagkakaalam ko po nag-apologize yung teacher but even then may investigation na tayo na ginagawa napa-fast track na nga po natin, at tututukan po yan ng central office,” he continued.
(As far as I know, the teacher has already apologized, but even then, we will still have an investigation that is being done and fast-tracked, and the central office will commit to that.)
The official also told the public to exercise prudence in the case, as the teacher will still have due process and will still explain her side.
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“Sabihan na natin ang publiko that we really need also to afford due process sa teacher para makapag-explain kung bakit nangyari ang ganyang insidente,” he added.
(We also remind the public that we need to afford due process to the teacher so she can explain why that incident happened.)