MEMBERS of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers(ACT) in Baguio City condemned alleged profiling by the Philippine National Police in 18 areas of the country including the Summer Capital.
In a press briefing Friday, January 11, Jeanette Cawading stated that the move by the PNP is an illegal act since it violated the right to privacy of its members.
“Because there have been similar cases happening in other regions, what we did was to report this to the schools superintendent and supervisors in the district. It is a written report and we assume that the Department of Education(DepEd) would be the once to protect the teachers and give immediate instructions to the heads of schools not to give names of teachers who are members of ACT because this is an illegal request by the PNP,” Cawading said.
Pinsao Elementary School principal Ligaya Annawi, a member of ACT, earlier said two police personnel visited their school and forwarded a letter signed by Baguio City Police Office Station 2 Commander Police Senior Inspector Arnold Yango Lising dated January 7.
The letter requested for an inventory of teachers of the school who are members aligned with ACT and with reference to the 2019 midterm elections.
Cawading reiterated this move by the PNP was a violation on the rights of the teachers to freely organize, aside from the breach on the privacy of the teachers.
“Nobody kicks a dead dog. Since 1982, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers have historically shown their continuous fight for the increase of teachers’ salaries, economic and democratic rights of the teachers. We must be working hard so that in the middle of tyrannical rule, ACT faces these challenges frontally because it truly represents the teachers,” Cawading added.
Former Bayan Muna Party-list representative Neri Colmenares also condemned the teachers profiling and harassment of the party-list group and other people’s organization by the PNP.
“What they claim is that ACT teachers are linked with the CPP-NPA. This was also what they claimed against the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), Bayan Muna, Liberal Party, and all others identified as fronts. But if you look at what the organizations are doing, they are only opposing the in-humane orders of President Duterte. What crime have the ACT teachers committed,” Colmenares said.
Police Regional Office Cordillera Director Rolando Nana and Baguio City Police Office City Director Eliseo Tanding earlier said no such directive was issued by the region and by the city to police personnel.