MANILA, Philippines – Waving off allegations of red-tagging, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Saturday, June 24, that it had asked for a list of teachers affiliated with various unions and organizations for the “sole purpose” of improving its human resource systems.

The DepEd issued the statement in response to what it called “wrong information and lies deliberately fed by ACT Teachers to the public.”

“The allegation that the memorandum was intended to profile the members of ACT Union as part of a supposed government anti-insurgency campaign is patently absurd, distorted, and followed no logic,” the agency said in a statement on Saturday.

In an internal memorandum dated June 14, DepEd Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo asked all regional directors and schools division superintendents to submit a “complete list” of teachers affiliated with ACT Teachers who were availing of the department’s Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS).

Philstar.com first reported on the memo on Friday, June 23, and it was confirmed by the DepEd on the following day, Saturday, June 24.

The seemingly one-page memorandum did not specify any reason for gathering the names of teachers. Following the request, Escobedo only gave instructions on how and where to send the list, and a deadline of June 21.

The undersecretary also asked that all submissions be consolidated and verified by the regional level.

The DepEd explained on Saturday that the request for the list of names was not issued to target ACT Teachers members, but instead had the “sole purpose” of improving the department’s human resource systems, which includes the APDS.

“Our unions and organizations are collecting membership dues through APDS. The APDS is the facility used for salary deduction in relation to statutory contributions, as well as loan remittances and membership dues,” the DepEd said on Saturday, noting the need to fix “wrongful deductions” processed by the APDS.

The DepEd also showed copies of similar memorandums issued to the Teachers Dignity Coalition and the DepEd Teachers’ Union.

ACT Teachers and red-tagging

Responding to the June 14 DepEd memorandum, Anakbayan national spokesperson Kate Almenzo questioned the direction of the agency under Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.

“Ano ba talagang pakay ni Sara Duterte sa DepEd? Gawing galamay ng redtagging, paniniktik, at pandarahas sa mga guro at estudyante?” Almenzo said in a statement on Saturday.

“Lahat ng guro ay higit na mas marami pang nagawa para sa kabataan at sambayanan kaysa kay Sara Duterte, at mas natulungan pa ng ACT ang mga guro na isulong ang kanilang mga demokratikong karapatan, ‘di katulad ni Duterte na kapakanan lang ng sarili at ng iilan niyang kasabwat ang iniisip,” she added.

(What is the Sara Duterte’s real goal at the DepEd? To promote the red-tagging, spying, and threatening of teachers and students? All teachers have done more to help the youth and nation compared to Sara Duterte, and ACT has done more to help teachers advance their democratic rights, unlike Duterte, who only thinks about her and her allies’ interests.)

Duterte has long alleged that ACT Teachers is affiliated with the communist movement – an act known as “red-tagging” in the Philippines. Red-tagging has led to the profiling, monitoring, harassment, and even killings of activists.

Duterte had accused ACT Teachers of being a “lover of the useless ideologies” espoused by insurgent groups. She had also slammed the group for supporting the nationwide transport strike against the jeepney modernization program, saying they do not really “serve the interest of students and teachers” as the transport strike would cause a “learning disruption.”

The Vice President even went as far as saying ACT Teachers Representative France Castro was a fake representative of the education sector in Congress.

“For 12 years, ACT Teachers has been claiming to represent teachers in Congress. Yet our public school personnel continue to face financial woes and we have a generation of learners that are facing several challenges. What has this self-proclaimed education sector representative done to remedy the problems we are facing now?” she asked.

In April, ACT Teachers filed a complaint at the International Labor Organization over Duterte’s red-tagging statements against them.

Even before Duterte was elected vice president, ACT Teachers was red-tagged by the administration of her father, Rodrigo Duterte. In January 2019, ACT Teachers filed a complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against the Philippine National Police and the Department of the Interior and Local Government for alleged profiling of its members. – Rappler.com