THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) called on the Court of Appeals (CA) Friday, February 8, to give more weight to "substantive considerations" over technicality issues after it dismissed the former's petition against alleged profiling of police on school teachers.
The CA, in a resolution issued February 4, junked the ACT's petition for prohibition filed against a Philippine National Police (PNP) memorandum that orders policemen to conduct profiling and intelligence gathering of ACT members.
The CA said the petitioner failed to include one of the main requirements: the certified true copies of the PNP memoranda. ACT also failed to state material dates in its petition, specifically the dates when the petitioners received the various assailed memoranda.
But the teachers group said in a statement Friday, February 8, that CA's decision might "send the wrong message that illegal profiling of legitimate organizations and common citizens is all right."
"It may further embolden the PNP in their illegal surveillance activities against civilians," it added.
"It is in this context that we fervently urge the CA to take into account and give more weight to substantive considerations over technicality issues. Teachers’ fundamental rights to association, free expression, and privacy are at stake," it said.
It cited the case of one of its members, ACT Philippines’ Secretary General Raymond Basilio, who reportedly was followed and threatened by an unidentified person while he was on his way home.
"Since the leakage of the confidential profiling memorandum, teacher-unionists from at least 10 regions have reported continuing surveillance and aggravating harassments against ACT leaders and members. Two of our leaders received death threats," it said.
"We have verified reports of extensive person-specific profiling in Pangasinan. A teacher from Negros Occidental, whose affidavit was the first among the exhibits included in both the CA petition and the Ombudsman case filed by ACT, found her classroom table ransacked, but only her notebook with her schedules was taken. We continue to receive cases after cases of school visitations from police elements who are gathering lists of ACT members," ACT added.
It said there is a need to counter the "growing culture of impunity" in the country by holding those who trample on human and trade union rights accountable.
ACT said it has not yet received the official copy of the CA decision and it will file a motion for reconsideration.
"With truth and reason on our side, so should justice be this time around," it added.
The PNP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government earlier welcomed the CA ruling, with PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Bernard Banac saying all their activities and operations are "well within our lawful mandate and constantly under the presumption of regularity." (LMY/With Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)