MEMBERS of the teachers group AlĀliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) have expressed concern over police efforts in many parts of the country to identify members of ACT in the nationās schools. Police officers reportedly have asked prinĀcipals and other school officials for lists of ACT members among their faculty.
The National Capital Region Police OfĀfice (NCRPO) has been quick to assure the teachers who fear that this operation is rather similar to the surveys conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to pinpoint drug dens and drug suspects in Oplan Tokhang. The police surveys, it may be recalled, were quickly followed by raids in which thousands were killed, prompting President Duterte to replace the PNP with the Philippine Drug EnĀforcement Agency (PDEA) as the lead agency in the drugs drive for a while.
Director Guillermo Eleazar of the NCRĀPO said there is no formal directive for police intelligence operatives to make an inventory of ACT members in Metro MaĀnilaās public school system. In any case, he added, getting information is part of police work.
The PNP information gathering was also reported in Tarlac, Bulacan, Cebu, SorsoĀgon, Camarines Sur, Zambales, and AguĀsan del Sur. The Department of Education is now looking into the matter; it asked its regional offices to verify the reports of the PNP asking for lists of ACT members in the provinces.
It is indeed true that information gathĀering is a legitimate part of police work, but the ACT may be excused for fearing this police project ā which, it charges, amounts to āprofilingā its members.
The ACT is a militant and nationalist organization of teachers set up in 1982 to work for the economic and political well-being of teachers and other educaĀtion workers. It also has other goals, inĀcluding protecting human rights, workersā rights, land reform, and gender equality. It is allied with the party-list ACT TeachĀers which now has two representatives in Congress.
Presidential spokesman Salvador PanĀelo has been quick to reassure the naĀtionās teachers, who may feel threatened by the PNP project. āThe President loves the teachers. He has promised to double their salary,ā Panelo said. This could hapĀpen in two or three months, he added.
It is good that ACT has called attention to the PNP information gathering on ACT members. Whatever its motives, the PNP operation seems a bit far off the usual police duties of fighting crime and mainĀtaining peace and order in the commuĀnity. PNP chief Oscar Albayalde has dealt decisively on the matter suspending the PNP officials who initiated it.
Paneloās quick response in behalf of President Duterte should also reassure the nationās teachers as a whole who have long been waiting for better pay as promised by the President after he doubled the salaries of police and military men last year.