Video of student desecrating PH flag prompts DepEd probe

NETIZENS OUTRAGED The apparent Flag Law violator as captured on camera by a colleague who was snickering in the background as the symbol of the Filipino nation hit the floor. Screengrab from Filipino Netizen’s Facebook Page

The Department of Education (DepEd) is looking for the student who was caught on video playing with the Philippine flag by using it like a mop, the shot apparently taken inside a school building.

Education Assistant Secretary Tonisito Umali said an investigation was underway to identify the male student and the school. Initial information gathered by DepEd indicated he was either a college student or a high school student enrolled in a university.

“It appears” that the student is from a Metro Manila school, Umali told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

The 22-second video surfaced Tuesday on the Facebook page Filipino Netizens. It purportedly showed a student putting the flag at the tip of a stick and using it to mop the floor.

The student, who was in a white shirt and black pants and wearing his ID, appeared to be in a classroom. Toward the end of the clip, the person holding the camera can be heard snickering in the background.

As of press time, the post has been shared by more than 28,200 users and received some 10,600 comments from indignant netizens.

Umali shared their concern. “I can’t imagine an individual finding joy in doing a terrible thing to our Philippine flag.”

Under Republic Act No. 8491 or The Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, it is prohibited to mutilate, deface, defile or trample on the flag or commit “any act or omission casting dishonor or ridicule” upon it.

A violation is punished with a fine ranging from P5,000 to P20,000 or a prison term not exceeding one year. According to Umali, provisions of the law are incorporated in DepEd Order No. 60, a set of guidelines on the proper display of the national flag, issued in 2007.

But because of RA 10630, which amended the Juvenile Justice Law (also known as Pangilinan law), Umali said that if the student turns out to be only 15 years old or younger, he will be exempted from criminal liability.

Still, the student should be subjected to disciplinary action, he said.