ACT TEACHERS Partylist Representative France Castro sought the release of Alliance of Concerned Teachers Region 13 Union Secretary General Rosanilla Consad who was recently arrested by the Philippine National Police.

Consad was arrested in Butuan City based on a case of attempted homicide related to an operation of the New People’s Army in Agusan del Norte on November 21, 2020.

She is the assistant principal of San Vicente National High School in Butuan City.

“She is not a terrorist and is not a criminal. We demand for her immediate release and dropping of the trumped-up charges against her,” Castro said.

“Walang katotohanan ang mga ikinaso laban kay Ma’am Lai,” she added.

The lawmaker said that the incident was an attempt to silence critics of the government.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the continuing attacks against teachers and union leaders. Instead of hearing the calls of public school teachers for a substantial salary increase, better working conditions, and just benefits, the state gifts them with threats, harassment and arrest of our union leaders,” she said.

“We demand for the immediate release of teacher Lai and dropping of all trumped-up charges against her. She is a public school teacher, a union leader. She is not a terrorist,” Castro added.

She said that Consad was a victim of harassment, threats and red-tagging by state security forces “for standing up for the rights and welfare of her fellow public school teachers in Region XIII.”