THE DEPARTMENT of Education has recalled learning materials that malign indigenous peoples of the Cordillera Administrative Region, particularly the Igorots.

Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog said he received a letter from the DepEd explaining that the said learning materials were printed by a school in Region II, and that copies “were immediately retrieved when the agency’s attention was called.”

Dalog said DepEd-CAR Director Estela Cariño was also informed by the DepEd office in Region II that it already “urgently rectified the matter by modifying the content.”

The DepEd “deeply expressed its sincerest apologies for making use of the Igorot tribe as example in the learning materials,” the lawmaker said.

He added that the regional office admitted that the social contents of the learning materials were not checked during the quality assurance process.

Photos of the offensive materials recently went viral on social media after John Guiagui posted a question lifted from the module that discriminates against Igorots.

“Nakita mong tinutukso ng kaklase mo ang isang batang Igorot dahil sa kanyang anyo,” it said. One of the choices in the list of answers read, “Hindi ako makikipaglaro sa aking kaklase na Igorot dahil iba ang kanyang pananamit.”

DepEd-CAR said it was able to trace the source of the materials since the reference author were indicated in the SLM.

“Material A was made by a teacher in Region II, who also lifted the content from a textbook published by Vibal. It was printed by one school in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya but copies were retrieved when their attention was called. Immediate action was made by the Office of the Regional Director of DepEd-CAR, calling on the attention of Region II,” it said in statement.

But DepEd-CAR said that other materials of the said SLM cannot be tracked because “relevant references establishing the learning area, grade level, developer, Region or Division were not captured.”

While the misinformation in the SLM has been addressed, DepEd-CAR demanded that educational stakeholders “must be proactive” to help in creating awareness on IPs.

It called for the release of a regional memorandum to the Schools Division Offices reiterating strict adherence to the social content of locally-developed Learning Resources; a meeting with district superintendents, Learning Area Supervisors, and development of a coffee table book focused on the Cordillera as a people and their culture.