ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro condemned the continuing profiling of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers by officials of the Department of Education.

She cited the report of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers that union leaders from Regions 1, 3, 4A, 4B, 6, 10, and Cordillera Administrative Region were asked by their division offices to provide the number of ACT members in their area on orders of Undersecretary Revsee Escodebo.

Castro said that the move came after the group issued several requests for a dialogue with DepEd officials to discuss teachers’ concerns.

“The Department of Education prioritizes profiling its teachers who are members of the teachers’ unions who have been forwarding their demands for a substantial salary increase, for gadgets and internet allowance, for safe reopening of schools and for measures by the education department to ensure the health and safety of its personnel instead of facing these groups in a dialogue and address their legitimate concerns,” she said.

“Nagsisilbing hudas ang DepEd na ipinagkakanulo ang mga guro at ang kanilang mga sensitibong mga datos sa mga human rights violators. DepEd being a member of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict has been rampant in its red-tagging and vilification campaign against ACT,” Castro added.

The lawmaker stressed that the profiling of the DepEd against ACT members and leaders is similar to the profiling by the Philippine National Police in 2019, which the DepEd itself scored as violation of teachers’ right to privacy.

“Now, DepEd is eating its words and even joined NTF-ELCAC in the profiling of teachers and violating their right to organize and their right to privacy,” she said.

“Teachers are fighting for adequate medical solutions to combat the Covid19 pandemic, sufficient aid for all affected workers by the longest lockdown, salary increase, adequate social services and benefits are not terrorists. We demand an end to the profiling and red-tagging of our teachers and union leaders,” Castro said.

She called on DEPED to instead address the legitimate demands of teachers.