K to 12 program ‘unconstitutional’ / Justice for slain rights advocate unserved

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – It still remains to be seen if the Department of Education would be able to implement the K-12 program, which adds two years to secondary education curriculum.

This considering private schools are still in a quandary on how to comply with the program, as according to their officials, they have not yet been given final directives by the DepEd on specific rules on its implementation.

It is wait and see for them until the end of the year on how to go about with it.

While this is so,the DepEd and other government agencies were ordered Tuesday to answer a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) of various groups to stop the implementation of the K-12 program.

The SC ordered the DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to comment within 10 days from receipt of notice on the petition of the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines assailing the legality of Republic Act 10533 (creating the K-12 program) and its implementing rules and regulations.

The petitioners alleged that RA 10533 violated the rights of education workers to full protection of labor, promotion of full employment and equality of employment opportunities, enshrined in the Constitution.

More than 70,000 college teachers and non-teaching personnel stand to lose their jobs as a result of the full implementation of the program in 2016, they added.

The additional two years in senior high school would cause a lag of two years in enrollment at the tertiary level by 2016, they said.

The petitioners also questioned the joint guidelines dated May 30, 2014, DepEd Memo No. 2 issued in January 2015 and House of Representatives Bill No. 5493 filed on Feb. 23, 2015.

The orders had no basis under the K-12 Law when they provided for compensation (upon transfer to senior high school) and retrenchment of workers, they added.

Petitioners said the issuances are contrary to law and jurisprudence as education workers are forced to suffer such forms of unjust labor practices.

HB 5493 failed to include the fundamental labor rights of affected workers under Article XIII, Section 3 of the Constitution that “the State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all, petitioners added.

Petitioners said the Constitution provides that the State shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law.

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(Hereunder is a statement sent by Abigael Anongos, secretary general of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance on the first year anniversary of the killing of a human rights worker in Ifugao)

We remember William Bugatti on his first death anniversary. A year ago on March 25, 2014, suspected State assassins killed William in cold blood in Bolog, Kiangan, Ifugao.  William was a devoted human rights and indigenous people’s rights defender.

 A year after the incident, justice remains elusive. No single perpetrator has been arrested and made answerable to the murder of William. The continuing culture of impunity under the BS Aquino regime to victims of extrajudicial killings and other forms of human rights violations is outrageous and calls for condemnation.  

 William was family man, jolly, and committed to his work as an organizer, human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights defender. His work brought him to far flung communities of Ifugao and in the Cordillera region. He patiently joined and organized peasants into local people’s organizations for sustainable agriculture and strengthening of indigenous practices of cooperation. As a human rights defender, he visited communities and victims for human rights education and documentation of human rights violations. He also visited and facilitated jail visits for political detainees in Ifugao.

 William’s death greatly affected his colleagues and the communities he served. But most of all, William’s killers robbed his family a loving father and husband. With his death, communities are also denied of his services as an organizer, leader and educator. Life for his family is never the same. His wife was forced to work as an OFW to provide food on the table and the daily needs of their three young children. The once happy family is now struggling to live their normal lives.

 William is neither a criminal nor a terrorist as portrayed by suspected intelligence operatives of the State. Worst, even after his death, the political vilification continues.

 As we remember William, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and the Ifugao Peasant Movement join his family and community in calling for justice and State accountability for his death. William will always be remembered as hero of our people whom he served with dedication and perseverance. No amount of political vilification can tarnished his contributions in changing a better world for all.

 Lastly, we also call for the immediate stop of the heightened political vilification and surveillance of members and leaders of people’s organizations, barangay officials, environmental and indigenous people’s advocates in Ifugao by suspected intelligence operatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. These accusations are all are malicious, baseless and unfounded.