📷Former ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio
Former ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio today denounced the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for recruiting the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) into its executive committee, warning that this move poses serious threats to academic freedom and the safety of students and educators.
“This is a dangerous development that follows the same playbook of red-tagging promoted by the NTF-ELCAC. It is now trying to legitimize its witch-hunting operations by co-opting private educational institutions through COCOPEA,” Tino stated.
The ACT Teachers party-list president emphasized that the inclusion of COCOPEA, which represents around 1,500 private schools nationwide, into the notorious red-tagging agency could lead to increased surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of students, teachers, and school personnel.
Tinio cited the involvement of the NTF-ELCAC in the abduction, illegal detention, and interrogation under duress of two student activists in Bataan last year.
“We strongly urge COCOPEA to reconsider its involvement with NTF-ELCAC and follow the example set by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in distancing itself from this agency. The NTF-ELCAC’s track record of baseless accusations and human rights violations, including against students, teachers, and education sector workers, should be enough reason for any educational institution to reject such association,” Tinio explained.
“Furthermore, the Supreme Court itself has declared that red-tagging poses a threat to life, liberty, and security of its victims. COCOPEA would do well to keep its distance from this task force known for its rabid and remorseless red-tagging.”
“Educational institutions should be safe spaces for learning and critical thinking, not breeding grounds for fear and repression. The NTF-ELCAC’s presence in our schools, whether public or private, poses a direct threat to academic freedom and the constitutional right to education,” he concluded.#
