As the 2025 Midterm Elections loom over a country plagued by political crises, various stakeholders from the education sector led a media forum titled “Education Stakeholders Media Forum: Kilos Bayan Laban sa Kahirapan, Korapsyon, at Kawalang Pananagutan” at Pardo Hall last January 27.
Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network Alliance (TAMA NA) convenor and DLSU Full Professor Dr. David Michael San Juan opened the forum with a briefing about the different social dilemmas currently faced by the nation, such as the forthcoming LRT-1 fare hike on April and the rising prices of commodities, among others.
The discussion then shifted to center around Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment cases, where former Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio outlined the three grounds for why progressive groups filed the second of three impeachment cases against Duterte.
“Public office is a public trust,” Tinio stated as he explained his group’s version of the impeachment case.
The first ground pertained to the supposed misuse of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education, under which Duterte served as Secretary, that exceeded P600 million from 2022 to 2023—with a particular 11-day spending spree worth P125 million in December 2023.
The second case delved into Duterte’s refusal to exercise transparency during the House of Representatives’ inquiry into both of her offices’ confidential funds. Notably, individuals with fictitious names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” newer names like “Xiaome Ocho,” and repeated first names like “Dodong S. Barok” and “Dodong Alcala,” surfaced as supposed recipients of the OVP’s confidential funds. Yet these have then been verified by the Philippine Statistics Authority as “individuals lacking records” under their office.
The discourse culminated in Duterte’s alleged dereliction of official duties after the vice president publicly issued death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in an online press conference in November.
Other education stakeholders at the forum voiced their support for the impeachment cases while also sharing anti-political dynasty sentiments, holding the Marcoses and Dutertes accountable for their purported crimes.
DLSU Committee on National Issues and Concerns Chairperson and Full Professor Dr. Jazmin Llana closed the media forum with a call to action, stating, “Humayo tayo at magparami; manghikayat ng iba pang sumama at makiisa sa pagkilos laban sa kahirapan, korupsyon, at kawalang pananagutan. Tama na! Sobra na! Kumilos na!”
(Let us go and multiply; convince people to join our fight against poverty, corruption, and injustice. Enough! Too Much! Act Now!)
The panel then urged Lasallians and the public to join the youth-organized mobilization that happened the same day at the Liwasang Bonifacio as well as the “Kilos Bayan! Laban sa Kahirapan, Korapsyon, at Kawalang Pananagutan” rally at the same venue last January 31. The media forumended with participants signing the panel’s declaration paired with a short mobilization at the Cory Aquino Democratic Space.
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s March 2025 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSMarch2025.
