VP Sara: Employees should be mindful of reputation and honor of DepEd

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte told Department of Education (DepEd) employees not to “disparage” the agency online and “promote professionalism”.

Under DepEd Order (DO) No. 49 released on Wednesday, Duterte reminded the employees to “always be mindful of the reputation and honor of the organization.”

DepEd employees should raise issues and concerns on basic education through “formal and appropriate channels… without resorting to any political or third-party intervention or accommodation”.

Otherwise, failure to follow the directive “shall mean outright denial of any request or appeal for consideration in the Office of the Secretary,” Duterte warned.

But the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) criticized the new order, saying it would be “unprofessional” of Duterte to refuse to address issues just because they were made public.

“In the guise of promoting professionalism, parts of the memo actually threaten the freedom of expression and right to redress grievances of DepEd personnel,” Vladimer Quetua, ACT chair said.

Dutertealso warned DepEd employees not to take part in spreading rumors and false information on social media.

They were also told not to attack fellow DepEd employees online and use legal and “human resource mediation procedures” instead.

DO 49 is an amendment to DO 47 released on Oct. 17.

“It is the policy of the Department of Education to promote effective and efficient policies and programs. To realize this, the DepEd should be free from any partisan activities,” Duterte said.

In particular, DepEd employees and officials were told to abstain from getting endorsements, recommendations, contributions, support, consideration, political accommodations or other interventions from entities outside of the agency.

They wereinstructed to “desist from soliciting favorable actions from politicians to facilitate the implementation of programs, projects, or activities.”