“If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.” –Confucius
They did not wait for Raffy Tulfo to make them to choose between criminal raps or resigning from their teaching job. The teacher in question worked at Pili National High School in Ajuy, Iloilo and reportedly showed pornography to their Grade 10 students. Their resignation was confirmed last week by Department of Education-Division of Iloilo (DepEd-Iloilo) superintendent, Dr. Roel F. Bermejo.
When confronted by Ajuy Municipal Councilor Angel Briones, the teacher purportedly panicked and refused to face the individual questioning them as they had visited the school to follow-up on tips provided by parents. Did the teacher fear backlash? Were they intimidated by the elected official? It remains unclear if they resigned fearing investigations by DepEd-Region VI, among somebody from the school or local government—or if DepEd forced them out.
As of this writing, the teacher remains anonymous and may no longer face charges.
The resignation comes on the heels of a controversy involving Raffy Tulfo and a teacher who was encouraged by the broadcaster to give up her profession after being threatened with criminal charges. The former discussed a complaint brought forward claiming the teacher “mistreated” a student after they failed to submit their report card. Video footage then depicted the teacher directing the student to sit on a chair in the corridor.
Tulfo told the teacher to either resign or face the charges.
Following the resignation, the case went national and caused an uproar. Thousands of teachers threw support behind their colleague and denounced Tulfo. Netizens also reacted adversely to the broadcaster, who was forced to defend his actions by claiming he was “carried by emotion.”
***
I previously warned, the dirty department might retaliate against Senator Franklin Drilon following a series of exposés uncovering alleged corruption and incompetence by minions of the President Rodrigo Duterte administration. Following his issue regarding the organizers of the ongoing Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), which the Philippines is hosting, a partylist representative sympathetic to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who also serves as Philippines Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee chair, blasted the senator for reportedly cutting P2.5 million from the SEA Games budget and increasing funding for his infrastructure projects by the same amount.
Drilon replied by calling the lawmaker a “blabbermouth” and denied the allegations. He is capable of handling the barbs while those he questions are “making a pile” at the taxpayers’ expenses and committing monumental blunders.
***
Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ