THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers strongly condemned the violence perpetrated against four teachers inside a school in Ocampo, Camarines Sur on August 9, 2022.

“We demand that the culprits be swiftly arrested and meted with punishment so that justice may be served to our colleagues who have been attacked by armed perpetrators and were traumatized by the incident,” ACT said in a statement.

The group also demanded that the four teachers be given all the needed support and assistance for them to obtain justice.

“Such violence has no place in our society, much more in our schools which are supposed to be safe spaces for teachers and learners. Such violence should never be inflicted on anyone, much more to our hapless teachers who have been sacrificing their rest days to prepare our schools for the class opening,” it said.

The incident, the group said, exposed the vulnerability of schools to criminals.

It sought sufficient budget for the hiring of security personnel in every school.

“This should serve as a wake up call for the government who neglected our schools for so long that they cannot even employ security personnel to guard the safety of our teachers and learners. In most public schools, it is still the teachers who take shifts in watching after the safety of their colleagues and the learners,” the group said.