Amid continued reports of severe forms of punishment in schools despite recent warnings from the department, DepEd spokesman and assistant secretary for legal affairs Camilo Montesa reminded school officials and teachers of the law that protects children from any form of abuse.
Montesa warned that schools would be closed down if found guilty of tolerating or promoting such abuse and cruelty in their premises.
Montesa cited Article VII, Section XI of Republic Act 7610 that states "all establishments and enterprises which promote or facilitate acts of abuse shall be immediately closed and their authority or license to operate cancelled, without prejudice to the owner thereof being prosecuted under said Act."
He also warned teachers and school personnel that if found guilty of abuse, they could be charged and imprisoned.
"The law is very clear about protecting our children from any abuse so I would like to remind teachers and school officials about this. While cases of child abuse which we have read in the papers may seem to be isolated, we have heard many anecdotal reports of abuse in schools at varying degrees, including sexual abuse and we’d like to send out the message that we have no tolerance for this," Montesa said.
He appealed to teachers to treat students as their own children.
"These children have been entrusted to us by their parents, for us to look after and educate. When we coerce them and abuse them, we are no longer contributing to their development and we fail our jobs and become incompetent to teach and nurture these children," Montesa said.
He, however, admitted the need for a paradigm shift among teachers.
"We have gotten used to old and traditional ways of punishing students for them to learn their lessons. But in this day and age, we have found better and more effective ways of dealing with children other than coercion. We have to learn to change the way we treat our children," Montesa said.
He reiterated DepEd’s policy against corporal punishment.
According to DepEd Order 92 issued in 1992, school officials and teachers have the right to impose appropriate and reasonable disciplinary measures in case of minor offenses and infractions.
But, it does not permit the use of cruel and physically harmful punishment against any pupil or student. School officials or teachers who are caught violating this order can be charged not only administratively, but also criminally.
Last week, nine-year-old Maria Delmar Redota, a Grade II pupil of the Silangan Elementary School Main in Taguig, died last week due to acute tonsillitis, which relatives claimed was the result of the child being made to swallow pencil shavings in class last week by a substitute teacher.
Although there is still no clear evidence to point that this was caused by her being made to eat pencil shavings, the act of the teacher prompted the city government of Taguig to file a case of child abuse against the teacher.
The DepEd said incidents of child abuse in schools can be reported directly to the department’s DTxT Action Center by texting 2622 (type DEPED FDBK <name> <message> and send to 2622) or by calling hotline at (02) 636-1663.