Nothing to worry about ‘profiling’ of teachers group – Eleazar
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2019 07:52:19 +0000
NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office Director Guillermo Eleazar
THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) insisted Monday that there is no reason for the public to be alarmed amid the reported “profiling” of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).
While NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar denied that he issued a directive to intelligence operatives of all police stations in Metro Manila to make an inventory of the members of ACT, he stated that it is just “normal” and “part” of their job to gather information about an individual or a group of individuals.
“Let me allow to state na wala kaming directive sa mga pulis natin na puntahan ‘yung school, magtanong sa mga heads nila sa mga schools at alamin ang members nila. But napansin ko na mayroon kaming internal memo na one of our police stations nagsabing kumukuha ng ganitong information,” Eleazar said.
“Pero itong memo is meant for internal consumption only, not for public viewing. Pero assuming na mayroon nito, mayroon bang mali sa pagkuha ng information? Eh ang pagkuha ng information ay bahagi ng trabaho namin ‘yan,” he added.
The NCRPO chief was reacting to reports that members of the Manila Police District (MPD), particularly the Santa Cruz Police Station, are making rounds in select schools to gather information about members of ACT.
The said order issued on December 26, 2018 was signed by Chief Inspector Rexson Layug, chief of the Intelligence Branch of Santa Cruz Police Station.
ACT is an accredited union of school teachers in the National Capital Region, Bicol (Region 5), Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7), and Davao (Region 11).
It is separate from but allied to the ACT Teachers partylist, which has currently two representatives in the Congress.
The group condemned the alleged profiling being conducted by policemen as they raised fears that it might be similar to what happened during the early stages of the implementation of Oplan Tokhang, where a spike in the death of drug suspects was noted after cops made a profile of them.
According to ACT, police officers have spoken to school heads and “ordered” them to submit a list of all ACT members, citing a memorandum order from the Philippine National Police (PNP) intelligence department. The group said the police are doing such in preparation for the May 2019 midterm elections.
“This a grossly illegal and unconstitutional attack on our collective right to free expression and right to self-organization,” ACT said in a statement.
“Thus, the PNP’s concerted national scheme to single out ACT and extract a list of all its members from principals and other school officials is a clear violation of the constitutional right to self-organization, freedom of expression and assembly, and right to privacy,” ACT added.
The group also emphasized that the PNP’s profiling is a violation of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers “which protect our right to self-organization and trade union rights in both public and private schools.”
Aside from the Manila police, reports of profiling were also allegedly noted in Tarlac, Bulacan, Cebu, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Zambales, Navotas, Malabon and Agusan del Sur since the start of the year.
However, Eleazar assured the ACT that if the reported profiling is indeed true, all the information will be deemed confidential and for internal public consumption only.
He also vowed to punish cops if they would commit illegal acts.
“Kung mayroong maling ginagawa, kung merong problemang ginagawa, ‘di natin tino-tolerate ‘yan. All of our actions are evidence-based parang kagaya ng mga dating kwinestyon natin na operation,” Eleazar added. (Martin A. Sadongdong)