THE Department of Education (DepEd) has ordered the immediate investigation of a teacher from Central Luzon school who went viral on the social media platform TikTok.
The teacher, who was reportedly from a junior high school in Pampanga, shared through the said platform a video of a hypothetical scenario of how he will catch the attention of a “cute student.”
“‘Pag dumaan ‘yung cute na student mo. Tamang pa-cute lang,” the text on the video reads, accompanied by a laughing-with-tears emoji.
(When your cute student passes by. It’s just right to act cute.)
In the now-deleted video, the teacher swept his hand over his hair, bit his lips, and then danced.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, in a statement, said the video insinuated potential child abuse action, prompting to order an immediate probe and mete the involved teacher with appropriate sanctions.
She said DepEd, as an institution trusted to protect the rights of every Filipino learner, does not tolerate any forms of abuse towards children.
She reminded DepEd teachers and non-teaching personnel to always subject their words and actions, including social media activities, to the highest degree of ethical and professional standards.
"As teachers and public servants, we must always champion a safe and nurturing learning environment for children, where physical, verbal, sexual and other forms of abuse and discrimination are renounced," she said.
She also assured that as the country celebrates National Children’s Month, DepEd will continue to strengthen its policies and capacity-building activities to further promote DepEd's advocacy of protecting learners against abuse.