MANILA (UPDATE) — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Sunday branded the planned transport strike of jeepney drivers and operators as a “painful interference” to the process of solving issues in the education system.

Duterte said the Department of Education’s (DepEd) priority agenda of “learning recovery” does not include the “pointless weeklong transport strike supported by ACT,” in response to the earlier statement of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers criticizing the government agency for not suspending physical classes despite the strike.

ACT had said DepEd’s decision reflects its supposed “insensitivity and obliviousness to the daily hurdles that students and teachers face in order to come to schools.”

• DepEd says no class suspension in week-long transport strike

Duterte, in her answer to ACT, said the strike interferes with DepEd’s “efforts to provide solutions to the problems besetting our education system and will only exacerbate the learning hardships of our students.”

“ACT supporting this transport strike, and shamelessly harping twisted justifications for it, only betrays its true colors — that it is a group that does not really serve the interest of students and teachers,” the vice president said.

“ACT should know that a weeklong transport strike, at this critical point in our efforts to remedy learning losses, is a learning disruption,” she added.

ACT SLAMS RED-TAGGING

Duterte then tagged the alliance of teachers as “a lover of useless ideologies” espoused by communist movements, claiming that the group’s dream is “for our children to remain uneducated an poor.”

The education secretary reiterated that during the “communist-inspired weeklong strike,” both physical and alternative or remote classes will be implemented, standing by the agency’s earlier decision.

• MMDA to offer free rides as transport groups strike next week

ACT, in a subsequent statement after Duterte linked the group to communist interests, said it is “shameful” that the vice president resorted to “red-tagging” instead of “addressing the valid concerns of teachers and students in light of the scheduled transportation strike.”

“Red-tagging has always been the default scapegoat of the powers-that-be each time they are criticized for their policies and decisions that are problematic and detrimental to the interests of their constituents,” ACT said.

“ACT’s proposal to allow regional and division offices to cancel physical classes in areas that will be affected by transport strike is only practical and pro-active. Supporting the demands of our public utility vehicle (PUV) against phase out and for pro-people modernization is only just and compassionate,” the group added.

The alliance also responded to Duterte’s remark that its goal is to keep students uneducated.

“It is appalling to hear from the secretary, who just admitted a month ago that the government has failed our teachers, her accusation that we aim to keep our students poor and uneducated. Kami pa ba 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,” it said.

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, meanwhile, said Sunday that the agency's regional directors and division superintendents have been advised to prepare for both in-person classes and modular distance learning during the strike week.

"To give our schools flexibility, classes may be conducted in-person or through alternative delivery modes, depending on the preference of the learners and their parents/ guardians," he said.

"Topmost in mind is the national agenda, that should be supported by a whole-of-nation approach, to maximize the learning recovery of our learners," Poa added.

'BROADER PERSPECTIVE'

Many schools have announced that they are temporarily implementing online learning for most of the duration of the transport strike, which would run from March 6 to 12.

About 40,000 jeepney and UV express drivers, under the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, Manibela, and Piston, are reportedly expected to join the strike.

This is in protest of the planned phaseout of traditional jeepneys in favor of modern electric vehicles.

• Marcos backs PUV modernization, urges drivers to stop strike
• Transport authorities extend deadline for jeepney modernization

In its statement on Sunday, ACT urged Duterte to “take a broader perspective in analyzing and understanding the situation of teachers and learners,” in light of the transport strike.

“Ultimately, she also has to realize who education recovery should serve. The relevance of education lies in its ability to provide solutions to the problems of the people.

“As such, it is especially important to make our students and teachers aware of the country’s situation to strengthen their empathy to the poor, and their resolve to contribute in improving the situation of the people.”

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