Villanueva flags viral private school module with 'dirty names' in DepEd budget hearing

MANILA (update) — Sen. Joel Villanueva on Friday expressed concern over a viral social media post showing a private school self-learning module that used people's names known to be Filipino puns alluding to lewd acts.

"There are a lot of social media posts going around with regard to modules... How does DepEd ensure quality of modules?" Villanueva asked education officials during a Senate budget hearing.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said the module was not produced by the agency, as private schools are allowed to "produce their own materials." Still, she vowed action.

"It's not DepEd... Nonetheless, they are still dirty words. It is not appropriate at all," she said.

"We will take action on that," she said.

DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said the agency has created a team "that makes sure that content is fine."

"We are also employing third party editors very soon... as a way to ensure that the materials we will certify are indeed quality assured," he said.

The DepEd earlier drew flak after it aired education television shows with grammatical errors.

• Briones: Control measures in place after DepEd TV airs grammar error

However, in a statement, the DepEd clarified that the viral photos were not produced by the agency. 

"We would like to clarify that a certain viral photo of a module page with provocative terms was not created by the Department of Education (DepEd). Based on our investigation, a private Catholic school in Zambales produced the module," it said. 

The department also assured that learning resources at public schools "have undergone quality assurance" and that they have yet to utilize the modules formally as public schools open on October 5. 

It added that it would continue investigating and "exhaust legal remedies" to make sure learning materials across private and public schools "foster quality education and the best interest of children."