Teachers press for release of Butuan school official who had been red-tagged since 2018
MANILA, Philippines — A teachers' group hit on Thursday the arrest of one of its members in Caraga region over a charge which they said was fabricated and is a result of the government accusing her of being a communist rebel.
Police nabbed last night Rosanilla Consad, a union secretary of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, allegedly for attempted homicide on a member of the Philippine Army who was patrolling in Agusan del Norte in November 2020.
ACT said the arrest it was the "culmination of a string of state-sponsored attacks" hurled against Consad since 2018, which they said involved red-tagging, surveillance and intimidation.
An assistant principal in San Vicente National High School in Butuan City, the group said Consad has fought for teachers' salary increase as well as better benefits and working conditions for them.
Amid problems prevailing under distance learning, Consad "tirelessly worked and campaigned both in her capacity as assistant principal and as a teacher-unionist for the safe delivery of accessible quality education to all learners," the group said.
"For these, she became a hot target for state vilification and repression," said ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio. "Since 2018, Consad has been a subject of red-tagging propaganda by state forces in Caraga region."
Arrest under EO No. 70.
The Caraga police said the arrest is also part of operations under President Rodrigo Duterte's Executive Order No. 70, which seeks to end the country's decades-long problem of insurgency.
Police said Consad was not arrested for being a member of ACT but nonetheless alleged that she had been recruiting students to join the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army.
Activists and rights groups have condemned government's attempts at red-tagging, which exposes people name to threats and harassment and, in some cases, fatal attacks.
Groups have also urged the administration to instead resolve the root causes that lead some to take up arms, such as poverty.
ACT said Consad's arrest came just days after a memorandum by the interior department tagging their group as a "communist terrorist group" or a front organization of armed rebels was amde public.
"We demand that trumped-up charges against Teacher Lai be dropped at once and she be immediately released from incarceration," Basilio added. "We demand that all state forces who partook in the incessant attacks and harassment against her be investigated and held liable."
At the House of Representatives, Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers party-list) said it was "infuriating that the Duterte administration answers to the legitimate demands of our teachers with trumped-up charges and absurd allegations."
ACT also urged the education department to defend its teachers and school officials, and "disaffiliate" itself from the government's anti-communist task force.
On Wednesday, 291 university professors from across the country signed a joint statement urging an end to attacks on activists, as well as on red-tagging, saying it has no place in a country that considers itself a democracy.
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