The progressive group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemned the alleged red-tagging of them in an orientation for public school teachers.
According to the group, the orientation took place on February 18, allegedly sponsored by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“Doon sa kanilang presentasyon, PowerPoint, ilang beses binabanggit na ang Alliance of Concerned Teachers, kami ang unyon at iba pang organisasyong legal ay mga front ng [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army],” said Vladimir Quetua, president of the ACT-National Capital Region (NCR).
(In their presentation, PowerPoint, they mentioned several times that the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, we the union, and other legal organizations are the fronts of the [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army].)
“Nakakatawa’t nakakagalit… Sa araw na ‘yon, may mga guro na umaalis at natatakot sa orientasyon na ‘yon,” Quetua added.
(Funny and irritating…That day, some teachers left and were afraid of that orientation.)
Quetua is concerned about the fears the red-tagging has caused to both teachers and their students.
Group of teachers protests against alleged red-tagging on their sector
He called on DepEd to withdraw memos related to similar orientations.
As a result, the ACT staged a protest at the DepEd-NCR office in Quezon City, followed by a dialogue with the agency’s representative.
In a text message, NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade said that CPP Founder Jose Maria Sison referred to the ACT as its “ally” and they only made it public.
“Again, its not the NTF-ELCAC who red-tagged ACT. How many times do we need to say this? Red-tagging is a leftist language to shield themselves from their underground acts. Jose Ma. Sison has tagged ACT as his ally… NTF-ELCAC is simply informing our people of this fact,” said Parlade.
“I hope our teachers understand this difference and hope they abandon ACT if they dont believe in the armed struggle. They can then form their own teacher organization free from the clutches of the CPP,” he added.
According to ACT officials who staged a protest, the current administration is “desperate” to red tag their public teachers. They asserted that their DepEd-NCR-accredited organization was legitimate and legal.