Teacher faces raps as student dies after ‘slap’

MANILA, Philippines — A criminal complaint is being readied against a teacher in Antipolo City after a Grade 5 student, whom she allegedly slapped, died in a hospital due to brain hemorrhage.

Antipolo police chief Lt. Col. Ryan Manongdo said Mirasol Sison of the Peñafrancia Spring Valley Elementary School faces a complaint of homicide in relation to Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

“We are just waiting for the medico-legal and autopsy report from the hospital,” Manongdo said in an interview aired over GMA News.

An investigation report said Sison slapped the student, Francis Jay Gumikib, 14, on Sept. 20 at around 9 a.m.

The mother of the victim, Elena Minggoy, said the teacher scolded her son after he complained about his noisy classmate.

The boy told his mother that his teacher pulled his hair then slapped him.

Minggoy said her son complained of a headache when he arrived from school. The boy said he also felt dizzy and pain in the ear.

The boy was still able to attend classes for three days after the incident. On Sept. 26, he was brought to the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center in Marikina City when his condition worsened.

He went into a coma and died on Monday at around 10:21 a.m.

Sison denied that she was responsible for the boy’s death, according to Executive M/Sgt. Divina Rafael, who heads the Antipolo police station’s women and children desk.

Rafael said Sison claimed that she only ”patted” the boy’s face.

The Department of Education said a team was created to look into the case.