INTELORDER Amemorandum issued by Chief Insp. Pancho Dasca Doble, acting head of the Zambales police intelligence unit, on Dec. 27, 2018, orders his subordinates to conduct an inventory of all public and private school teachers 鈥渨ho are members of or aligned鈥� with the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. 鈥擯HOTO COURTESY OF ACT
The Philippine National Police has confirmed reports that it is profiling members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a group critical of the Duterte administration, drawing an outcry from rights and lawyers organizations.
PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde on Monday sacked three police intelligence officers, not for the profiling of ACT members but for their 鈥渟cary鈥� method of intelligence gathering.
鈥淢aybe they don鈥檛 know what the job of an intelligence officer is. No. 1, if you鈥檙e an intelligence officer, there shouldn鈥檛 be a leak [of your operations] 鈥� especially so if you would be creating unnecessary panic,鈥� Albayalde said.
鈥淵ou have to do a good job discreetly,鈥� he added.
The relief of intelligence officials from the Santa Cruz, Manila, police station; Batasan, Quezon City, police station; and another in Zambales province came following complaints by ACT over the weekend that the PNP was openly profiling its members.
Policemen鈥檚 visits
In Manila, at least six public elementary and high schools had been visited by police officers, some reportedly in civilian clothes.
The police officers reportedly carried a memorandum signed by Chief Insp. Rexson Layug, intelligence chief of the Santa Cruz police station in Manila.
Information gathering has been reported, too, in other provinces, including Bulacan, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur and Agusan del Sur.
鈥淭hey want to justify and normalize surveillance,鈥� ACT secretary general Raymond Basilio told the Inquirer. 鈥淲e have the right to live freely and what they are doing does not fall under 鈥榥ormal.鈥欌��
Human rights and lawyers鈥� groups denounced the PNP鈥檚 insistence on the legality of its collection of information on members of ACT, which they said was sowing more fear given the political climate under the Duterte administration.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the PNP had violated the ACT members鈥� constitutional rights to privacy and association.
CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement on Sunday that reports that the PNP was profiling public and private school teachers were 鈥渁larming.鈥�
Harassment
The National Union of Peoples鈥� Lawyers (NUPL) said coming up with the 鈥渋nventory鈥濃�攖hough deemed harmless by police officials鈥攕hould be seen in the larger context of the crackdown on activists and opposition leaders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 invasive, discriminatory and amounts to harassment and persecution,鈥� said NUPL national president Edre Olalia.
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay expressed fear that the profiling would lead to prosecution, arrests and even killings, given the trend of 鈥淩ed-tagging鈥� under the Duterte administration.
鈥淭he recent Red-tagging [of] ACT Rep. France Castro and this recent incident come to more than mere coincidence,鈥� Palabay said in a statement.
In November last year, Castro was arrested, along with former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and 16 others, at a checkpoint in Talaingod, Davao del Norte province, for alleged 鈥渓umad鈥� (indigenous) child trafficking.
Teachers鈥� union
ACT Davao City president Elenito R. Escalante said his group was a legitimate union of teachers recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd) and other government agencies.
鈥淥ur championing of the rights and welfare of teachers is no crime,鈥� Escalante said.
In a rally at the Camp Crame gates on Monday, ACT national chair Benjie Valbuena said the group first learned about the operations after police officers went to Cecilio Apostol Elementary School in Manila on Thursday.
The police officers asked school officials to fill out a 鈥渟urvey form鈥� seeking an 鈥渋nventory鈥� of ACT members on the faculty and informing the school about the police operation.
A teacher took a photo of the 鈥渇orm鈥� and reproduced it for ACT.
The form was a memorandum from the intelligence chief of the Santa Cruz police station ordering the policemen to 鈥渃onduct an inventory of all public and private school teachers who are members aligned with the ACT.鈥�
The memo showed an example of the database format to be used and cited other memorandums purportedly coming from the Metro Manila regional intelligence division and the 鈥渕idterm elections of 2019.鈥�
A new party-list group called ACT-CIS is accredited for the May elections. Its top nominee is Erwin Tulfo, a supporter of President Duterte.
Amid the uproar, the DepEd has ordered the recall of a letter addressed to school heads by the Schools Division Office in Manila that endorsed the PNP memo.
Other groups, too
At the press conference, Albayalde said the gathering of information was not limited to ACT members.
The PNP chief said the intelligence officers focused on ACT to determine whether it was doing something wrong like supporting armed rebellion.
Escalante likened the PNP move to the government鈥檚 anti-illegal drug campaign 鈥渢okhang,鈥� a combination of two Visayan words鈥斺�渢oktok鈥� (knock) and 鈥渉angyo鈥� (ask)鈥攊n which drug suspects are subject to profiling.
The PNP has been criticized since the beginning of the administration鈥檚 crackdown on illegal drugs after it came up with 鈥渄rug watch lists鈥� considered a target list for extrajudicial killings. 鈥�WITH A REPORT FROM VINCE F. NONATO
RELATED STORY
PNP intel officials relieved for 鈥榣eaked鈥� info on ACT teachers 鈥榩rofiling鈥�