Solon calls out DepEd over offensive depiction of Igorots in books

A lawmaker has called out the Department of Education (DepEd) for what he called was an offensive portrayal of Igorots in books and modules being used by students.

According to JP Soriano’s report on “State of the Nation,” Mountain Province Representative Maximo Dalog Jr. wrote to Education Secretary Leonor Briones after discriminatory remarks about Igorots were found on lessons.

The mistakes were posted on social media. This caused the hashtag “Proud To Be Igorot Challenge” to trend, where Igorots shared their pictures wearing traditional clothing.

“We were alarmed, offended, and annoyed by the portrayal and description of us. That is why we made a letter to Secretary Liling Briones to make the necessary corrections or to rectify the errors being portrayed against the Igorots,” Dalog said.

In the book titled “Masayang Buhay (Binagong Edition 2001), an image of a man with black curly hair was shown saying, “Isa akong Igorot. Kulot na kulot ang itim kong buhok.” 

The publisher, Saint Matthew’s Publishing Corporation, said it pulled out the books in 2018 after it was criticized and that the book is no longer in circulation.

It also apologized to the public due to the incident.

DepEd said it will address the matter, stressing it does not condone discrimination of indigenous communities.

“Maghire tayo ng third party quality assurance team sa isang major university ng ating bansa,” DepEd undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said.

“Nung nag introduce tayo ng Error Watch, so napadala sa amin ‘yung mga error at mabilis na mabilis nating iniisyu ‘yung mga errata,” he added

DepEd has also advised parents to immediately inform schools about wrong information on their children’s books and modules.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News