By Ellson Quismorio
Raffy Tulfo's apology in connection with the Melita Limjuco episode on his popular public affairs program was plain rubbish, said ACT-Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro.
ACT-Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro
(Facebook / File Photo / MANILA BULLETIN)
"Nagsorry ba sya kay Ma'am Melita? Wala akong narinig. Ang pini-please niya lang yung netizens niya. (Did he say sorry to Ma'am Melita. I didn't hear any. He was just pleasing his netizens)," said Castro, a member of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives.
"The first thing that he should have done was to say sorry to the teacher and to his netizens for his attitude on the case," said the public school teacher-turned-congresswoman.
Last week, Tulfo scolded and shamed Limjuco, a teacher at Epifanio Delos Santos Elementary School, after the latter was made the subject of a complaint by a grandparent of one of her students on "Raffy Tulfo in Action."
Limjuco's supposed offense was her punishing of the involved Grade 2 student by ordering him to sit outside the classroom for failing to bring his report card. It was reportedly an embarrassing ordeal for the pupil.
The mother, Rosemil Edroso, said during the program that she would like to see the teacher's license revoked as a consequence, something that "Idol Raffy" echoed.
The outspoken host issued an apology a few days later after the YouTube upload of the particular episode was swamped with over 300,000 "dislikes." He promised to mediate between Limjuco and the pupil's family.
"It was really unbecoming for a media practitioner like Raffy Tulfo to do that," Castro said, adding that he was "biased" against Limjuco, a teacher of 30 years.
"He should have referred the matter to DepEd if he lacked knowledge on the procedure and rule of law," she said.
Castro further stressed that Tulfo shouldn't act as if he is the law or the justice system itself.
"Ginagamit niya programa niya sa pamamahiya sa teacher (He is using his program to shame the teacher)," she said.
"We will give our full support to Ma'am Melita. And find justice both for the child and Ma'am Melita," Castro concluded.