A Reprimand to State Aggressors

"Education is to prepare people to participate in a democratic society." (Dewey, 1916; Freire, 1970/2000, 2004; Giroux, 2005)

Democracy can only be enshrined through the voices of a determined majority. Literacy and numeracy bedrocks social determination wherein a people recognizes their relevance in changing society.

A "determinist," redeless government that is grounded on fascism goes against this people power.

Cammarota and Fire (2008) exclaims that conditions of justice are produced, not natural; that the justice system is designed to privelege one and oppress another, but still it is "ultimately challengeable and therefore challengeable." Ergo teachers bear the responsibility to stand as the voice of moral and political sanity, to teach critical thinking and prepare citizens against advantageous influences and stimuli; to challenge a primitive and oppressive social construct.

And again, a fascist government goes against this design.

Teacher unionism, along with other sectoral unionisms, has hitherto been viewed as a threat by the state. They are ashamed because in spite of their efforts to cope with the international standards, they stand as nothing compared to Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and other countries who show their dignification of "the noblest profession" with just economic and political compensation (Education at a Glance, 2015). The Philippines' best effort on the other hand is to have teachers loan their economic needs. Government moronically promotes financial literacy to the country's underpaid teachers to have them make do with a meager amount of salary. The state does not want a union to promote these interests. reason why unions under the flagship of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) are placed under surveillance by the connivance of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and even the Department of Education (DepEd).

The 200,000-strong membered ACT union stands at the forefront of the call for teachers' salary increase and benefits. At this degree of pressure already has the state responded to it through illegal profiling of all ACT members. This just goes to show that government cringes to the thought of a clamouring mob of teachers merely asking for an increase for their salaries. It finds it a global embarrassment for the world to find out that the Philippines prioritizes more on terrorizing its own citizens rather than providing them with quality social services, especially education.

Teachers are slowly being alienated from their teaching posts through an outcomes-based education (OBE) as practiced in today's K to 12 classroom. Donnelly (2007) suggests that OBE "limits inquiry and encourages teachers to teach to the test." Meaning, the focus of learning is centered on concrete outputs, not concerned with the process by which these outcomes are achieved (Burke, 1995). Thus it compromises comprehension, critical thinking, and mastery of the content. In the process of it, teachers are burdened with tons of paperwork and slowly turned into "part-time clerks" (as if they didn't have enough part-time jobs) through the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS). As result, students have dead appreciation to their studies. Given that their learning will only be measured after numerous procrastinator nights, body-taxing grand performances, coughed-out research papers, hastened presentations, and other outcomes, a great number of students and teachers are literally led towards suicide.

Wanting them to be removed from social reality, the state prefers teachers to inculcate colonial culture. It wants to keep its mediocre, second-rate excuse of a curriculum free from constructive criticism and have teachers and students consume balderdash content that does not even lead to national benefit.

In this respect, government is hell-bent on censoring all progressive thought, and decimating those who valiantly promote transformative and liberating education. Even the sight of teachers merely calling for an increase to their salaries already has the government resorted to harassment. In ostensible cases, the state is prepared to do all means including espionage, intimidation, illegal profiling, filing of trumped-up charges, illegal arrest and detention, and even murder.

It's funny that police and other state armed forces are this determined to bring pressure not only to teachers, but civilians as well. In reality, they are only compensating for their egoes to the fact that they have consistently lost against their actual enemies. By far they are at the mercy of international terrorists and drug syndicates. Their angst is limited to those unarmed: teachers, lawyers, priests, activists, farmers, workers, civilians. They cannot even accept the fact that they have been consistently beaten to a bloody pulp by civilians who became insurgents denouncing the state's systematic oppression. Even with their upgraded uniforms and advanced artillery, they will still kneel down before this harsh truth - they are nothing more but pawns to a tyrant, and nothing about them is inexpensible.

This stands not only as a reprimand from teachers, but a public reprimand addressed to the state. If they would continue treating human rights and innocent lives of the professionals, the religious and the civilians as collateral damage from their monstrosities, they will learn a harsh lesson so construed with moral guilt their consciences would not let them sleep. Soon they will learn that their crimes will eventually ignite a generating force of synchronized sparks - a raging fire that they can never ever extinguish.