The Alliance of Concerned Teachers slammed Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte’s statement calling the weeklong transport strike next week “pointless and “communist-inspired,” saying that instead of red-tagging, she should instead be addressing the needs of students and teachers.
“Red-tagging has always been the default scapegoat of the powers-that-be each time they are criticized for their policies and decisions that are problematic and detrimental to the interests of their constituents,” said ACT Philippines Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
In the aforementioned statement, Duterte red-tagged ACT Phiippines, calling it “ a lover of the useless ideologies espoused by the New People’s Army, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” and claiming that the group wanted the country’s children to remain uneducated and poor.
The teacher’s group responded, however, pointing out that it was ironic for the DepEd secretary to say so despite admitting a month prior that the government has failed to meet the needs of the education sector.
“Kami pa ba na araw-araw ay binabata ang lahat ng balakid, maturuan lamang ang aming mga estudyante? This is a big insult to our teachers who ensure the delivery of education come hell or high water—despite the classroom shortage, lacking laptop and teaching materials, large class size, mounting non-teaching duties, measly salaries, delayed benefits, and many other problems.”
Duterte dismisses drivers’ concerns, “fails to learn from history,”
In her statement, Duterte claimed that the transport strike would be a “painful interference in our efforts to provide solutions to the problems besetting our education system and will only exacerbate the learning hardships of our students.”
But, as several progressive groups have pointed out, worker strikes have been an essential tool in forwarding concerns often set-aside by governments.
“The concurrent Secretary of Education fails to cite how this transport strike is ‘communist-inspired’, fails to learn from history that workers’ strikes resulted into much of our well-deserved rights,” said Kej Andres, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines Spokersperson.
Andres added that Duterte “fails to recall that learning hardships has been the policy failure of both the Duterte and Marcos, Jr. regimes during the pandemic, and fails to have compassion to the point that her red-tagging of the jeepney strike is her sinister way of illegitimizing the genuine call of drivers for genuine rehabilitation and livelihood,”
Anakbayan National Chairperson Jeann Miranda also lamented the government’s use of red-tagging to dismiss the valid concerns of the affected Jeepney operators and drivers.
“Hindi “communist-inspired” ang welga. Ito ay inspired nang walang pakundangan na pag-apak ni Marcos Jr. at Duterte sa kabuhayan ng mga tsuper at operator. Imbis na subukang ilayo ang suporta ng mamamayan sa strike, bakit hindi nalang niya intindihin ang krisis sa edukasyon bilang DepEd Secretary?” she said.
ACT, meanwhile, highlighted how the strike – including the forced Jeepney Phaseout it is resisting – would affect commuters, and urged the Department of Education to consider these circumstances.
“Sec. Duterte should open her eyes to the reality that our schools, teachers and students do not live in a vacuum. We live in a society that is now embroiled in deep economic crisis and our teachers and students are not exempted from rising prices of goods, inadequacy of income, or difficulties in public transportation,” Quetua said.
The group pointed out that many students and teachers even have family members who are Jeepney drivers or operators, thus being directly affected by the phaseout.
“Our difficult realities and the scantiness of government funding for education are the real serious impediments to education recovery, so much more than the coming transport strike,” Quetua added.
ACT says education recovery must serve the nation
In the Vice President’s statement, she urged ACT to work with the government in making the strike convenient for students and teachers instead of supporting it, claiming that the strike hinders learning recovery.
But for ACT, the learning recovery must be oriented towards making sure that the education system stays relevant and is in service to the nation.
“Education recovery will not succeed if it is only pursued within the narrow framework of simply pressing teachers and students to be gathered in schools—unconcerned if they even had their meals, if there are available modes of safe transport, or if the classrooms are in good condition and if there are enough materials for learning,” stated Quetua.
ACT said that, if education is to truly serve its purpose, teachers and students must be exposed to realities like the Jeepney phaseout tomake them understand the country’s situation and strengthen their resolve to contribute to improving it.
This, they say, is what ultimately makes education relevant: “its ability to provide solutions to the problems of the people.”
