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'DepEd just wants to protect minors,' says Roque, on module cautioning students vs. joining rallies
'DepEd just wants to protect minors,' says Roque, on module cautioning students vs. joining rallies
Malacañang said there was nothing wrong with students joining demonstrations to voice out their sentiments against the government as long as they are of age.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after netizens pointed out that a Grade 12 module from the Department of Education (DepEd) seems to advocate against exercising a person's democratic right.
Photos of a DepEd Grade 12 module for the subject Media and Information Literacy went viral on social media after one of its questions seemed to prohibit students from speaking against the government.
In his Monday presser, Roque said it was best to let DepEd address the issue. However, he reminded the public that DepEd's mandate covers grade school and high school students.
He likewise suggested that DepEd may just want to protect young students.
"Siguro ang sinasabi lang ng DepEd yung mga elementary at high school eh siguro 'wag muna mag-attend ng mga rallies (Perhaps DepEd is just saying that elementary and high school students should not attend rallies until they're older)," he said.
"Hindi naman po ito para sa mga matatanda nang mga estudyante, ito po ay para sa mga bata (This module is not for the older students. This is for the younger ones)," he added.
According to Roque, the government is not stopping anyone from exercising their right to free speech.
"Alam niyo po (You know) that's already in the Bill of Rights," he said.
"Ang pinag-iingatan lang natin yung mga wala pang sapat na pag-iisip, yung mga menor de edad, at mga bata (What we're trying to protect are the students who cannot make decisions fully, the minors, and the children)," he added.
The said module from DepEd showed a photo of protesters and the third and final question was: "If given the chance, will you join this rally? Why or why not?"
While the question seemed subjective, the answer to the question provided in the answer key was: "No, because the government has really doing their best for all the Filipino people and their constituents." The supposedly correct answer was also grammatically incorrect.
This was not the first time DepEd went viral for the wrong reasons after netizens found errors in some of their modules and in the DepEd TV itself.
DepEd has resorted to modular learning after face-to-face classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.