A teacher in a viral TikTok video might face sanctions from the Department of Education (DepEd) for “insinuating a potential child abuse action.”
In a statement issued Friday, Nov. 5, DepEd said that as an institution trusted to protect the rights of every Filipino learner, it “does not tolerate any forms of abuse towards children.”
Related to this, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones has instructed the Regional Director of DepEd Central Luzon to “immediately investigate” a TikTok video of a certain teacher going rounds online.
For DepEd, the said video of the teacher is “insinuating a potential child abuse action,” thus, he must be meted with “appropriate sanctions” after the probe.
Meanwhile, DepEd said that reminded its teachers and non-teaching personnel to “always subject our words and actions, including our social media activities, to the highest degree of ethical and professional standards.”
DepEd said that as teachers and public servants, “we must always champion a safe and nurturing learning environment for children, where physical, verbal, sexual and other forms of abuse and discrimination are renounced.”
In a separate statement issued by the Schools Division Office (SDO) of Pampanga on Nov. 4, it confirmed that it has been receiving reports on the viral TikTok video of a certain teacher.
“We assure the public that our office exhausts all possible remedies to address this matter,” the SDO Pampanga said. “We have already coordinated with the proper parties/authorities to take down the said video,” it added.
The SDO Pampanga also reminded “everyone to observe the highest degree of professionalism including the use of social media.”
Likewise, DepEd said that it will continue to “strengthen its policies and capacity-building activities to further promote our advocacy of protecting our learners against abuse” especially as the country celebrates the National Children’s Month this November.