"Teachers are doing nothing". This was the remark of a provincial governor from a province up north earning the ire of many, teachers and non-teachers alike. Such a statement was rude even to those who are not in the academic profession.

Such words were made by Manuel Mamba of Cagayan who elicited strong reactions from netizens, expressing their anger for such. He has drawn flak when he said that teachers seem to enjoy doing nothing while we are in the pandemic and yet still get paid.

Mamba when interviewed by a certain radio station even added insult to the injury when he said that it was unfair to continue giving out salaries to teachers while the latter are not reciprocating work. "Nagsusuweldo pero walang ginagawa", was the statement, which is more unfair to say.

In addition, he seemed to undermine the work-from-home scheme implying that since the government is saving a lot from this, the pay of teachers should be reduced. Who wanted to have these schemes anyway? It’s the pandemic that should be blamed and not the teachers or the government.

He likewise called on teachers not to complain and they should reciprocate their pay despite their work-from-home scheme. Such is a glaring insult to teachers whom he portrayed as totally doing nothing while getting paid with their mouths banned from complaining.

It seems that preparing modules, teaching on-line and others is not work for Mamba. For him, trying to continue to educate young people amid the threat of the pandemic is nothing. He should take note on the other hand that there were teachers that were infected by the coronavirus while in the performance of their duties. They are not exempted from getting infected thus, they too deserve compassion.

Mamba, after earning reactions against his statements has apologized for what he has said. He made his alibi that he was merely challenging teachers to show the people that they are still relevant despite the absence of face-to-face classes. Such is a lame excuse of a local elected official who after hurting teachers, is now maneuvering his words. The damage has been done.

Teachers are not medical frontliners but they may be considered to be doing some tasks on the frontlines just to continue educating the youth and not leave a whole school year to waste. Some comments made on teachers should be pondered first and commenters should be sensitive to know the real sacrifices of those in the academic profession. They should not undermine those who are already under-appreciated and unsung.

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