ACT urges educators to continue fight for accountability

File photo of House Secretary General Reginald Velasco receiving the second impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. The complaints, filed by progressive organizations led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, were sponsored by ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel. (Gabriel P. Lalu/ INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — A teachers’ group on Thursday called on educators and education workers to continue the fight for “full public accounting” after the Senate decided to “archive” the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) joined the growing call to push through with the impeachment trial of the vice president who is being accused of misuse of her previously-issued confidential funds in 2023, including during her stint at the Department of Education, among others.

“Though they claim the complaint is merely ‘archived’ pending the Supreme Court’s ruling, the senators’ explanations reveal that they have already adopted Duterte’s self-serving argument that the impeachment was ‘void ab initio,’” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said in a statement.

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“We call on teachers, education workers and all defenders of democracy to continue the struggle for the full public accounting of all public funds and the removal of corrupt and negligent officials,” he added.

“The Senate’s decision falls short of complete absolution of corruption,” Quetua also said. “This act of protection mirrors a theater of legality masking the brute consolidation of power by a parasitic elite.”

He pointed out that while educators and ordinary Filipinos have been demanding answers for the alleged misuse of confidential funds and the worsening crisis in schools, the Senate opted to respond “by insulating one of the most corrupt figures in the land.”

Quetua also urged the Supreme Court to overturn its earlier decision declaring the fourth impeachment complaint against the Vice President “unconstitutional.”

“We must acknowledge that the fight for justice cannot be won in institutions beholden to the ruling elite,” he said. “It must be waged in the streets, in schools and in every arena where [the] people can organize and resist.” /mr