As the Department of Education (DepEd) revises the K to 12 curriculum, a group urged Vice President Sara Duterte, who serves as the Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary in a concurrent capacity, to retract her “red-tagging statements” publicly apologize for “attacking human rights.”
(DepEd / MB Visual Content Group)
“Teachers welcome inclusion of red-tagging as human rights violation is a welcome development,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines Chairperson Vladimer Quetua in a statement issued on Friday, May 5.
Quetua is referring to the inclusion of red-tagging as a human rights violation in the proposed Curriculum Guide for Grade 10 under the subject Araling Panlipunan or Social Studies.
“We commit to fulfilling our mandate on human rights education that is relevant to our time,” Quetua said. “We hope our agency shows the same dedication,” he added.
ACT also issued the statement as a reaction to the Commission on Human Rights' statement that other government agencies should emulate the DepEd’s commitment to counter red-tagging and other human rights violations, as indicated by its proposed revised Grade 10 curriculum.
For the group, DepEd “cannot be a model of human rights advocacy until DepEd Secretary VP Sara Duterte retracts her red-tagging statements against ACT and other progressive groups, and publicly apologizes for attacking human rights.”
“DepEd's purported commitment against red-tagging does not hold water when the agency head does not even bat an eye while red-tagging our unions,” Quetua said.
If DepEd is “sincere in this advocacy,” Quetua said that Duterte should “set the good example of admitting her mistakes and issuing an apology.”
“It is important for VP Duterte to clarify that red-tagging endangers the lives of its subjects, as how her previous words have put our teachers and unions in an unsafe spot,” Quetua said.
“Only through this can DepEd prove its sincerity in upholding human rights,” he added.
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