DepEd: Admin charges filed vs. 5 of 7 teachers in alleged sexual abuse in Cavite school

Formal administrative charges have been filed against five out of the seven teachers involved in the alleged sexual harassment reported in the Bacoor National High School, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced Thursday.

In a press conference, DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said the fact-finding or preliminary investigation on the alleged abuse was already finished, with the five suspects now facing a 90-day preventive suspension.

He said the five were charged with grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and violation of DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012.

“Out of the seven teachers identified in the post, nag-issue na po tayo ng formal charge sa lima sa kanila,” he said.

(We have issued a formal charge against five of the seven teachers identified in the post.)

“Binigyan natin itong sa Cavite, particularly, ang mga teachers ng five days to reply. Pagkatapos no’n, natapos na ang ating preliminary investigation. Ngayon po, nag-issue tayo ng formal charge. Kaakibat [nito] ang preventive suspension that is good for 90 days,” he added.

(We gave the teachers in Cavite five days to reply. After that, our preliminary investigation was finished. Now, we have issued a formal charge, including a preventive suspension that is good for 90 days.)

Poa said they will give updates soon as to which proceeding—either by trial or position paper—would the involved teachers choose to face.

For the two other educators, Poa said that upon talking with their legal department and the Schools Division Office, it was found out that the evidence against them were still insufficient.

DepEd earlier appealed to other victims of the incident to file their affidavit as only a few complainants have shown up to formally raise their concerns on the matter.

“Naghihikayat tayo sa mga victims ng alleged sexual harassment na lumabas para makapagbigay ng kanilang affidavit, statement, o ebidensya at para mabigyan rin natin ng formal charges hindi lang itong pito pero pati na rin ‘yung iba na sinasabing nag-commit ng sexual harassment,” Poa reiterated the call.

(We are encouraging the victims of the alleged sexual harassment to come forward to provide their affidavit, statement, or evidence and so that we can also give formal charges not only to these seven teachers, but also to others who are said to have committed sexual harassment.)

The issue stemmed from the statement of a former student at Bacoor National High School that one of the accused teachers made advances to him and sent him inappropriate private messages when he was in Grade 9.

The student said the experience left him traumatized.

For the part of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, Poa earlier said that she already had a meeting with the DepEd’s Child Protection Unit to address the reported sexual harassment in schools.

The agency also stressed that it has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of abuses perpetrated in schools, especially against the students.

With this, they urged the kindergarten to Grade 12 victim-survivors to report such incidents directly to the Office of the Secretary.

The DepEd said they may email their complaints at depedabusereport@gmail.com, or call 8633-1942, 8635-9817, or 09959218461.—AOL, GMA News