Lualhati Bautista slams teacher involved in ‘harassment’ of UE campus journalist

Lualhati Bautista. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Award-winning novelist Lualhati Bautista decried the harassment incident of a campus journalist who was forced to issue a public apology by his former teacher for criticizing the government on social media.

The author on Sunday stressed that teachers have no right to “shove what they want down the youth’s throats” after Joshua Molo, editor-in-chief of University of the East campus paper Dawn, was threatened with a cyber libel case by his former teacher from Cabiao National High School in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.

“Ang papel ng teacher sa buhay ng mga estudyante ay hindi lang para magturo ng mga araling-akademiko kundi higit sa lahat, hulmahin sila sa sariling paninindigan; hindi yung tiklop-tuhod na pagsunod sa gusto ng nakatataas, hindi ang diwa ng pangingibabaw ng malakas sa mahina, o nakatatanda sa nakababata,” Bautista stressed.

(The role of a teacher in the lives of students is not only to teach academics but to mold them with their own beliefs, above everything else; not to bow down to the wants of those from above, not to accept the notion of the strong being superior to the weak, the old to the young.)

https://www.facebook.com/lualhati.bautista.3/posts/10158177303319621?__tn__=-R

“Walang karapatan ang mga guro o mga pinuno ng barangay na isalaksak sa lalamunan ng kabataan ang gusto nila. At gamitan ang kabataan ng pagbabanta o anupamang uri ng harassment hanggang sa mapasunod ito sa gusto nila. Mahiya kayo sa propesyon n’yo, sa pagka-pinuno n’yo, at sa sarili n’yo na rin!” she added.

(Teachers or barangay heads have no right to shove what they want down the youth’s throats. And to use threats or other forms of harassment against the youth until they obey. You should be ashamed of your profession, your being leaders and also yourselves!)

Bautista’s Facebook post includes the statement of Kamalayan, the official campus publication of the Malayan Colleges of Laguna, which condemned the incident as it “lowers the standard of how we, as a country, respect the rights given to us by our constitution.”

The Commission on Human Rights and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines have also slammed the “red-tagging” incident of Molo, who called out his former teacher for “making fun of [his] political view” after publishing opinion critical of the Duterte administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.The said teacher allegedly reported him to authorities and threatened to file the cyber libel case unless he publicly apologizes for his remarks.

Bautista is the author of several Philippine literary classics such as “Dekada ’70,” “Bata, Bata… Pa’no ka ginawa?” and “Gapô,” among others, which are all acclaimed for their social relevance.

The author, a vocal critic of the administration, has also recently slammed Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III over the Makati Medical Center debacle.

Edited by JPV