School principals threaten to stop backing GMA if Luz sacked

A large nationwide organization of elementary school principals threatened yesterday to withdraw their support for President Arroyo and all her allies if Malacañang pursues plans to terminate Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz.

"If we lose confidence, what we will do is we will not support (her in the elections)," Philippine Elementary School Principals Association (PESPA) president Teresita Arriola said. "The power is in the vote. We have done this with a government official. She (Mrs. Arroyo) has people that she is going to endorse."

Arriola said this during an interview at a joint PESPA and National President of the National Association of Public Secondary School Heads Inc. (NAPSSHI) press conference held at the DepEd central office in Pasig City.

Also at the press conference was NAPSSHI president Arnulfo Empleo.

Arriola said there was a senatorial candidate already endorsed by the President. "PESPA joined hands (and agreed) that we are not going to vote for this man. We campaigned not to vote for this man."

"I don’t want to name names. This happened during the recent elections, the last elections in 2004," she added. "The other election, we also have proven our strength. The candidate was a candidate (endorsed by the President), hindi siya nanalo (he did not win). We will prove that we can. We have the strength."

Arriola said they would lose confidence in Mrs. Arroyo if Luz is sacked or forced to resign.

"Magbabago ang aming pananaw (Our view of the President will change). We are not saying that we will march. We do not do that. We are educators. We don’t want to tarnish the image of the DepEd. We cannot afford to march in the streets. We will just plead," she said.

"We would lose confidence in the President, although we are trying very hard to understand her. We are giving her the benefit of the doubt, whatever she is doing," Arriola added.

PESPA is a 36,000-strong membership of principals, school heads, teachers and teachers-in-charge in the nation’s elementary schools. They handle about 40,000 elementary schools all over the country, Arriola said.

She said that since they are principals and are doing field work, they have significant influence on families, students and the communities.

She also said PESPA wants to talk to people close to Malacañang.

Arriola said they will exhaust all peaceful means to put forward their protests because it is unseemly for them to shout in the streets, being educators and principals.

Instead, they intend to lobby and negotiate, she said, adding that while they cannot campaign openly, they can discuss the issue with friends and other teachers and hold small group meetings outside the schools.

"How do we marry the values that we are supposed to teach our children, and the values that we see with our officials from the President to the senators? Nakakasakit na ng dibdib (It is hurting our hearts)," she said.

Empleo has asked Mrs. Arroyo to allow Luz to continue his work and accomplish the plans and programs of the DepEd.

"We are apolitical. The omnibus election code is saying that we cannot join politics," Empleo said. "The voting exercise we could discuss. But the voting itself is dependent on the individual’s right."

In their joint statement, both PESPA and NAPSSHI said the President should not give the DepEd field officials reason to believe that the accusations leveled against her by the opposition and cause-oriented groups are true.

"As educators, we are steadfast in our resolve to work hard — undaunted by the political hoopla outside of our domain. But we cannot simply stand pat and watch (Luz) being sacked for personal reasons using (the President’s) prerogative," Arriola and Empleo said in their joint statement.

They said Mrs. Arroyo should instead congratulate Luz for a job well done.

In Luz’s three years as education undersecretary, Arriola and Empleo said, the department’s officials and rank-and-file employees were awed by his creativity and innovative reforms to improve education. — Sandy Araneta