Cites learners as ‘casualties’ of transport strike

THE “red tagging” of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers were denied by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday.

But she insisted that the transport strike was “communist-inspired” and that the learners became “casualties” of the protest.

“May I reiterate — the transport strike is a painful interference in our efforts to address the learning gaps and other woes in our education system,” Duterte said in a statement.

She added, “we oppose it because it is problematic, it will hurt our learners, and the inconvenience that it may cause comes with an enormous price deleterious to learning recovery efforts — and this is a price that learners will have to pay.”

“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 added this time, among the “casualties” were the earners and teachers. “Kawawa ang mga estudyante at mga guro.”

The first failure of the transport strike, she explained, is the “failure to consider our learners and our teachers.”

“This does not come as a surprise anymore — a tactic clearly taken from a playbook familiar to many Filipinos,” the statement read.

“Piston is 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,” according to the Department of Education (DepEd) chief.

“This is not red-tagging. This is a statement of fact,” the statement continued.

Meanwhile, Duterte said, “the progress and future of our learners cannot be left to the whims of organizations acting on bare selfish motives.”

“Magkaroon man ng (tigil-pasada), walang tigil sa pag-aaral ang mga kabataan.”

On Monday, various groups started their transport strike, which will run from March 6 to 11 and will involve some 40,000 traditional jeepneys and UV express units, protesting the controversial jeepney modernization program.