MANILA, Philippines—Angry over their impending loss of their jobs and security of tenure, a group of college professors, school staff and their supporters on Saturday called on President Benigno Aquino III to suspend the K to 12 program, even as they vowed to challenge it before the Supreme Court “for failing to protect the labor rights” of affected teachers.
The Coalition for K to 12 Suspension, which includes parents, labor federations and faculty groups, said it would hold a mass action on May 9 to voice their opposition to the program that adds two more years to high school.
The group will file in the Supreme Court on March 12 a petition seeking a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction against the program, according to Rene Tadle, who is also a convenor of the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities in the Philippines.
Hard-won tenure
In a press briefing, Tadle said the K to 12 law failed to provide protection for the labor rights of the 56,771 teachers and 22,838 non-teaching personnel who stand to lose their jobs and their hard-won security of tenure as a result of the program.
Because of the additional two years of high school, very few incoming college freshmen are expected in 2016, the start of the transition period for the program, leaving college professors with little to do and opening up the possibility that colleges and universities would lay them off or reduce their teaching load.
The loss of tenure also means the diminution of teachers’ benefits, which could lead to their underemployment and contractualization, Tadle said.
“Even before 2016, teachers and non-teaching staff, together with their families and dependents, have been suffering from undue stress, anxiety and anguish, brought about by the specter of early separation, forced retirement, constructive dismissal, diminution of salaries and benefits, labor contractualization, and general threat to self-organization,” Tadle said, reading from the coalition statement. Leila B. Salaverria