By Martin Sadongdong and Genalyn Kabiling There is no reason for the public to be alarmed about the reported "profiling" of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Guillermo Eleazar said Monday. National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Guillermo Eleazar
(FILE PHOTO / FEDERICO CRUZ / MANILA BULLETIN) Eleazar denied issuing a directive to intelligence operatives to make an inventory of the organization’s members. However, he said that it was just "normal" and "part" of their job to gather information about an individual or a group. Malacañang also assured that the government has no policy of keeping teachers under surveillance as President Duterte actually loves and cares for these public servants. President cares for teachers To highlight how much the President looks after the welfare of teachers, Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the public school teachers could even expect a salary increase in the next two or three months. "Definitely, the policy is not to surveil teachers. The President loves the teachers," Panelo said in Filipino during a Palace press briefing. "The President takes care of teachers. He has promised to double their salary. If I am not mistaken, (Budget) Secretary (Benjamin) Diokno said the salary hike may be released in two or three months," he added. No directive – Eleazar "Let me 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 (Let me allow to state that we have no directive to our policemen to go to schools and ask the heads about the members . However, I noticed that we have an internal memo from one of our police stations saying they are getting information like that)," 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 (But this memo is meant for internal consumption only, not for public viewing. But assuming that we have an order like that, is there something wrong with that? Gathering information is part of our job)," he noted. Malacanang and the NCRPO chief were reacting to reports that members of the Manila Police District (MPD), particularly the Sta. Cruz Police Station, were making the rounds in select schools to gather information about members of ACT. The order to undertake the supposed “profiling” was issued December 26, 2018, and was signed by Chief Insp. Rexson Layug, chief of the Intelligence Branch of Sta. Cruz Police Station. ACT protests profiling ACT is an accredited organization 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 Congress. The group condemned the alleged profiling being conducted by policemen as they raised fear that it might be similar to what happened during the early stages of the implementation of Oplan Tokhang, when 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 is 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 was 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. Confidential information However, Eleazar assured ACT that if the reported profiling was true, all the information will be deemed confidential and for internal public consumption only. "Gust ko i-assure ang Alliance of Concerned Teachers na kung merong hakbang na mga ganyan eh kasama po sa trabaho namin 'yan kasi inaasahan namin na just like any organization eh dapat meron tayong SWOT analysis (I want to assure the Alliance of Concerned Teachers that if there's any move like that, it's part of our job and just like any organization, we should also have a SWOT analysis)," Eleazar stated. He also vowed to punish cops if they would commit illegal acts. Panelo: Nothing wrong Panelo however said the police officials have denied conducting surveillance of teachers. The Palace official acknowledged though there was nothing wrong if law enforcers monitor persons with suspected involvement in illegal activity. He said it was the job of the police to probe persons who have shown acts inimical to the state, adding they could be slapped with a case for "conspiracy to commit rebellion.” DepEd on ‘inventory’ Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said that it is currently looking into the directive on the “inventory” of teachers who are members ACT. Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla said that the DepEd Central Office is “looking into the matter” at the Secretary level. The CO, she added, is also waiting for “verification from regional offices and legal team.”