MANILA (UPDATE) -- Vice-President Sara Duterte criticized Monday the weeklong nationwide transportation strike, saying it fails to consider the plight of both teachers and students.

Duterte, concurrently the country's education secretary, described the transport strike as a "painful interference in our efforts to address the learning gaps and other woes in our education system."

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"If you cannot understand our position, or refuse to understand our position, or even pretend not to understand our position, this is only because of your unbelievable propensity to push a hardline agenda that punishes the general public," she said in a statement.

"This time, among the casualties are our learners and teachers. Kawawa ang mga estudyante at mga guro. The first failure of this transport strike is the failure to consider our learners and our teachers, she added.

The vice president also criticized transport group Piston, describing it as an organization "with leaders and some members poisoned by the ideologies of the bankrupt Communist Party of the Philippines, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the New People’s Army."

She added: "And happily cavorting with Piston and other militant organizations is ACT, a group that is diametrically nowhere near in the service of the interest of the learners and the education sector. This is not red-tagging. This is a statement of fact."

In response to Duterte's statement Monday, Piston on Twitter said: "edi wow."

Edi wow https://t.co/dKIauzFQmb

— PISTON (@pistonph) March 6, 2023

Piston national president Mody Floranda earlier accused Duterte of using red-tagging as a defense to stop discussions on how to solve transportation woes in the country.

He said the strike is intended to draw attention to the plight of drivers, operators and commuters.

In his statement, Floranda said the Philippines was one of the worst-performing countries during the pandemic and that includes how it handled the return to classrooms.

"Kasalanan ba namin kung Pilipinas ang isa sa mga pinakahuling nagbalik sa klase? Hindi kami ang sanhi ng interference sa pag-aaral ng mga bata," he said.

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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