CHR probes red-tagging of teachers

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday launched an investigation on the supposed red-tagging of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

“The CHR has consistently condemned the carte blanche act of red-tagging, especially when coming from elected government officials. As the country’s independent human rights institution, the CHR cannot stand by idly amid the persistent red-tagging of students, educators and civil organizations,” the commission said in a statement.

The CHR said it received a report from ACT regarding an orientation that was organized by officers of the PNP and NICA for the students of Carlos L. Albert High School in Quezon City on May 2.

The orientation supposedly focused on the alleged recruitment of students by teachers affiliated with the New People’s Army (NPA).

“The CHR, in particular, takes cognizance of the presence of armed police personnel within the school premises, which is a violation of the Department of Education’s Order No. 32, series of 2019 or the National Policy Framework on Learners and School as Zones of Peace,” the commission said.

“As part of our mandate, the CHR, through its National Capital Region office, is conducting an independent probe of the incident. We are also looking into other alleged incidents of red-tagging against ACT members in Regions 5 and 7,” the CHR added.

The CHR also condemned the alleged red-tagging of ACT by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, who was recently appointed as vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Duterte has repeatedly tagged the teachers’ group as a supporter of the NPA, Communist Party of the Philippines and National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

She had criticized the ACT for its “unrealistic and impossible” demand to hire 30,000 public school teachers and construct 50,000 new classrooms per year.

“In the case of ACT and other teacher groups, red-tagging only serves to undermine the credibility and professionalism of our educators,” the CHR said.