VP Duterte calls transport strike ‘pointless,’ ‘communist-inspired’; ACT decries ‘shameless red-tagging’
Vice President Sara Duterte has called the planned transport strike of jeepney drivers and operators “pointless” and “communist-inspired in an official statement blasting the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) for supporting the strike, which is poised to take place on March 6 to 12.
Acting in her capacity as Department of Education Secretary, Duterte issued a statement labeling the strike as a “painful interference in our efforts to provide solutions to the problems besetting our education system.”
Duterte said that by supporting the transport strike despite the learning disruptions it may cause, the ACT is showing that it is “a group that does not really serve the interests of students and teachers” and a “lover of useless ideologies espoused by the New People’s Army, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.”
Duterte went so far as to say that the ACT’s dream is for “our children to remain uneducated and poor.”
Jeepney drivers and operators groups are planning a weeklong strike starting Monday to protest against the onerous terms of the government’s PUV modernization program which seeks to replace traditional jeepneys with vehicles powered by environment-friendly fuels.
Many schools in Metro Manila have already announced that they will shift to asynchronous or online learning next week in anticipation of the transport strike.
Duterte maintained that “during these communist-inspired weeklong strike, both in-person and alternative delivery modes of learning shall be implemented, whichever is convenient to the learners.”
Duterte ended the statement by challenging the ACT to “work with Local Government Units and other government agencies to ensure the convenience of learners during the transport strike instead of supporting it.”
In a counter statement, ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua slammed Duterte for resorting to “red-tagging” the group instead of addressing the valid concerns of teachers and students in light of the scheduled transportation strike.
Quetua has called as “appalling” and “a big insult” Duterte’s accusation that the group aims to keep students poor and uneducated.
“Kami pa na araw-araw ay binabata ang lahat ng balakid, maturuan lamang ang aming mga estudyante? This is a big insult to our teachers who ensure the delivery of education come hell or high water–despite the classroom shortage, lacking laptop and teaching materials, large class size, mounting non-teaching duties, measly salaries, delayed benefits, and many other problems,” he stated.
Quetua said that Duterte should open her eyes to the reality that “our schools, teachers, and students do not live in a vacuum…Many of our students and teachers have family members who are PUV drivers who are about to lose their livelihood. Our difficult realities and the scantiness of government funding for education are the real serious impediments to education recovery, so much more than the coming transport strike.”
Netizens did not hold back in slamming Duterte for the “red tagging” and naming specific Philippine organizations while considering communist-led China a friend and “generous neighbor.” Many also expressed their support for the coming strike and defended it as a legitimate means for PUV drivers and operators to air their grievances against the government.
