Kinondena ni Vice President at Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte ang pagsuporta ng Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines sa tinawag niyang “communist-inspired” at “pointless” na transport strike na isasagawa mula Marso 6 hanggang 12 bilang pagprotesta sa nakaambang jeepney phaseout sa bansa.
Matatandaang nanawagan ang ACT na isuspende ng DepEd ang face-to-face classes sa bansa dahil mahihirapan umano ang mga estudyante sa pagko-commute sa darating na week-long transport strike.
“I maintain that during this communist-inspired weeklong strike, both in-person and alternative delivery modes of learning shall be implemented, whichever is convenient to the learners,” pahayag ni DepEd Sec. Duterte nitong Sabado, Marso 4.
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Ayon pa kay Duterte, pangunahing agenda umano ng DepEd ang "learning recovery" sa bansa at hindi raw kasama rito ang “pointless transport strike" na sinusuportahan ng ACT.
“The transport strike is a painful interference in our efforts to provide solutions to the problems besetting our education system and will only exacerbate the learning hardships of our students,” ani Duterte.
“ACT supporting this transport strike, and shamelessly harping twisted justifications for it, only betrays its true colors — that it is a group that does not really serve the interest of students and teachers,” saad pa niya.
Sinabi rin ni Duterte na isang balakid umano sa pagkatuto ng mga estudyante ang nasabing strike.
“ACT should know that a weeklong transport strike, at this critical point in our efforts to remedy learning losses, is a learning disruption. But ACT couldn’t care less if our efforts are hampered or if we fail because — as a lover of the useless ideologies espoused by the New People’s Army, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines — ACT’s dream is for our children to remain uneducated and poor,” ani Duterte.
“I challenge ACT to show its sincerity to the sector it is supposed to serve — the students, the teachers, and the entire Philippine education system — by working with Local Government Units and other government agencies to ensure the convenience of learners during the transport strike instead of supporting it,” dagdag niya.
Ayon sa transport groups, isasagawa ang transport strike upang tutulan ang nakaambang pag-phaseout sa mga tradisyunal na jeep na mas magpapahirap umano sa buhay ng mga tsuper at maliliit na operator.
Ang nasabing jeepney phaseout na nakatakdang ipatupad sa darating na Disyembre 31 ay alinsunod sa PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP) ng gobyerno. Sa ilalim ng programa, kinakailangang bumili ang mga operator ng consolidated entities ng modernong sasakyan na nagkakahalaga ng P2.4-milyon hanggang P2.8-milyon kada unit.
