Groups of teachers and students on Thursday, May 11, expressed concerns about the appointment of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte as the co-vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines secretary general Raymond Basilio said that the group fears that with Duterte's appointment at the NTF-ELCAC, “her red-tagging activities will just get worse and will continue to undermine teachers’ freedom of association and human rights.”
Instead of accepting the post, ACT said that Duterte should focus on the “unresolved issues, challenges and problems” faced by DepEd and the basic education sector.
In a separate statement, the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) said that the “witch-hunt of critical thinkers to worsen in schools” following NTF-ELCAC Duterte’s appointment.
“The education system should be a safe and nurturing environment for all students to learn and grow, not a breeding ground for fear and intimidation,” said NUSP Spokesperson Joshua Aquiler.
NUSP added that with Duterte, the incumbent Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary, at the helm of the “chief terror-tagging institution,” the “witch-hunt of critical thinkers in schools will be at an all-time high.”
The group noted that the NTF-ELCAC has been “widely criticized for its controversial policies and actions” --- including its “red-tagging” of individuals and organizations that it deems to be “enemies of the state.”
For NUSP, Duterte’s appointment move is a “clear indication that the government is doubling down on its repressive tactics and is willing to take its operations in schools up a notch.”
Related to this, NUSP called on school administrators to “bar the entry of agents of state repression in schools” by banning NTF-ELCAC in learning institutions.