March 29, 2023 – The Department of Education is not blind to the problems besetting the education system.

We have already laid down solutions to these problems during the Basic Education Report delivered on January 30, 2023.

The hiring of teachers, the hiring of administrative staff, as well as the construction of new classrooms and school buildings are among the solutions identified and being pursued now.

And while these are pursued along with the implementation of other essential reforms, DepEd should not only be limited to dispensing old-fashioned solutions but must also innovate.

The Department will not surrender or fall for the mad ruse of a partylist group that has mastered the art of duplicity.

May I reiterate that ACT Teachers’ suggestions were both unrealistic and impossible — presented to shame the government and deceive the public into believing that the hiring of teachers and increasing the education budget were their ideas.

On this note, may I underscore the urgency and necessity of exposing ACT Teachers as a fake representative of learners and teachers in Congress.

If ACT Teachers stands for the education sector, it would not have ignored the NPA terrorism in Masbate that resulted in the suspension of classes in six towns of the province, affecting more than 55,000 learners and 2,815 personnel — which they claim to represent.

ACT Teachers would have publicly and strongly condemned this act of NPA terrorism, given its blistering impact on the efforts of DepEd and our partners to remedy the education problems.

But the group has masterfully redirected the public’s attention from Masbate to its outrageous suggestions for DepEd.

Part of its deceptive tactic when stripped down of its intentions — with its real political agenda exposed to the public — is to conveniently hide under the blanket of red-tagging.

We should only take ACT Teachers seriously if it publicly condemns NPA atrocities in Masbate and all other NPA terroristic activities that hampered the learning of children across the country

ACT Teachers should stop dropping the victim card around the table whenever they are exposed as sympathizers and supporters of the NPA, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The real victims here are the learners, and the Department of Education is pouring in all our efforts to solve the problem.

Thank you.

 

SARA Z. DUTERTE

Vice President of the Philippines

Secretary of the Department of Education

 

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