THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers  called on the Department of Education to empower its massive workforce to responsibly exercise their rights and freedoms amid the election season through education, instead of “sowing fear” by warning teachers against electioneering.

The group stressed that DepEd should champion education workers’ rights, not repress them.

“DepEd’s heavy reminders on the ‘DON’Ts’ while failing to highlight the ‘DOs’ for teachers amid the election season have effectively silenced teachers for fear of being charged with electioneering. At one point, DepEd even insisted that teachers remain apolitical — which is misinformed at best, and, at worst, downright violative of teachers’ basic rights and freedoms,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

“DepEd should be equipping teachers with knowledge and tools to do their duty of contributing to the molding of a well-informed public and to responsibly exercise their constitutionally protected rights,” he added.

The group said that electioneering only covers activities that involve actively campaigning for or against candidates and cannot trample on teachers’ right to express their own political views.

Teachers, ACT said, also have the duty to counter disinformation, historical revisionism, corruption, and other political issues prevalent during and beyond the election season.

“Hyperfocusing on electioneering has snowballed into various misinterpretations of laws and policies, and disenfranchisement of many of our teachers. We’ve encountered teachers who believe their license will be revoked if they so much as expressed their like or dislike of candidates, or corrected a fake news being peddled by certain presidentiables?” Basilio lamented.

ACT asserted that the protection of teachers’ rights and liberties is critical not only for the education sector but for the nation as well.

“It is both our right and duty to contribute reason and truth as the Filipino decides on its next leaders and to add our voices to the discourse on change and progress that our nation aspires to achieve,” Basilio said.