ACT TEACHERS PARTYLIST

ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio today condemned

the spate of killings that have victimized teachers in the last few

days. “We are truly alarmed that three teachers have been murdered in

the span of a few days. How can our public school teachers serve the

public if their basic security cannot be guaranteed by the state?”

He further noted the brazenness of all three murders, perpetrated in

broad daylight. “One of the teachers was killed right in her own

school, in front of her students. Then the killer simply walked away.”

He pointed out that in all three cases, the killers remain

unidentified and at large.

Tinio linked the killings to the failure of the previous

administration to prosecute and punish human rights violators.

“Clearly, these killings are enabled by the climate of impunity that

continues to prevail, a legacy of the widespread extrajudicial

killings of activists and journalists that went unpunished under the

administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We demand justice for our

fellow-teachers and challenge the Aquino government to take decisive

action to stop the killings and end impunity.”

Tinio said that he would travel to Masbate on Saturday to pay his

respects to slain teacher and Alliance of Concerned Teachers member

Mark Francisco as well as to follow-up with local authorities on the

status of the investigation into his murder and attend to the concerns

of teachers in the area.

Only one ACT member killed, not three

The ACT Teachers Representative also issued a clarification regarding

the number of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers killed in

the past few days.

“We wish to clarify that only one of the teachers killed in the last

few days is a member of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers,” said

Tinio. “Media reports claiming that the three teachers killed are ACT

members are inaccurate.” Tinio is also the Representative of ACT

Teachers Partylist.

Tinio explained that, among the victims, only Mark Francisco is a

member of ACT and its party-list group ACT Teachers. Francisco, who

taught at San Isidro Elementary School in Palanas, Masbate, was gunned

down last July 9. His killers remain unidentified. Two other teachers

killed in recent days are not ACT members. These are Edgar Fernandez,

who taught at Roco C. Pahis, Sr. Central School in Masbate City, was

shot dead by unidentified men also on July 9; and Josephine Estacio,

who was shot on July 12 by a lone gunman during the flag-raising

ceremony of Tenejero Elementary School in Balanga, Bataan, where she

taught.

“We are making this clarification in the interest of accuracy and to

correct any misapprehension that the erroneous reports may have

created. For the record, we issued an official statement only in the

case of Francisco and have never claimed that the two other teachers

were ACT members,” said Tinio. “Nevertheless, in no way does this

diminish the gravity of the injustice perpetrated against the three

murdered teachers.” #