BY ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS
IN THE last few weeks, education workers in both public and private schools, colleges, and universities were put to test as the government pushed for class resumption with an unsafe, ill-equipped, and inaccessible education plan as millions of Filipinos grappled with the effects of the uncontained pandemic and worsening economic crisis.
Teachers and education personnel all over the country refused to sit idly by as the Department of Education (DepEd) fails to care for the welfare of its constituents, and asserted our rights to safe working conditions and to receive sufficient support from the government amid the crises.
We continued to advance the rights of all children to have accessible quality education, and braved the dangers as we fought to ensure that no child gets left behind. Neither did we cower in the face of attempts to silence the clamor of our families and communities as government aid remained wanting and their COVID-19 response below par.
Despite the grim prospects of the Philippine education system and our country as a whole, the Duterte administration has not decisively acted on mitigating the effects of the crises that will overwhelmingly hit already poor Filipinos. Instead, the government resorted to its go-to response to any and every problem it encounters: violence and repression.
The President’s signing into law of the widely denounced Anti-Terrorism Law is the cherry on top of its bloody four-year rule, and will legitimize state forces’ violation of our constitutionally protected rights and liberties.
Our basic and just calls for decent pay, better benefits, safe schools, inclusive and relevant education, among others, will be labelled as terrorist demands, giving them vile justifications to further terrorize our schools and communities. The more than two months of the militaristic lockdown in large parts of the country is a preview of what’s to come should President Duterte and his cohorts succeed in installing and effecting this measure.
Hence the need for education workers to oppose the Anti-Terrorism Law. The days ahead of us will be critical for the realization of our rightful assertions — protection of teachers, staff, and learners and the guarantee of safe and accessible quality education. Likewise, it will play a major role in the country’s actual battle against COVID-19 and its detrimental effects to the lives of millions.
As we’re yet to reach the peak of the pandemic and our economy already entering recession, unrest will inevitably unfold as more of us go hungry, fall sick, and now further disenfranchised. We are therefore challenged to renew our fervent commitment to forge ahead, borne out of our roles as educators in the defense of human rights and liberties, as well as our moral obligation as citizens actively participating in building a truly democratic and just Philippine society for present and future generations./PN
