By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said it considers asking the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to revoke the licenses of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) which is allegedly linked to communist rebels.
PNP chief, General Oscar Albayalde, made the remark after ACT asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider its decision junking their petition to stop the PNP’s supposed conduct surveillance and profiling of public and private school teachers.
“The court has already dismissed their petition. I don’t know if that will be entertained, though it is their right. We also have the right to file cases against them once we find physical evidence that will show their participation in rebellion. We will not hesitate to file a case against them and we will not also hesitate to file a petition to have their license revoked if necessary,” Albayalde told reporters.
The PNP chief said they are now in the process of gathering physical evidence against the group’s members.
“Remember, your license is not a right. It’s a privilege given to you by the state. It can always be revoked by the state if you abuse your profession,” he added.
However, Albayalde said the profiling of ACT members has been scrapped, noting that it was a mere part of intelligence efforts for national security after they were tagged by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison as one of their legal fronts.
“We did not say that. It was Joma Sison who said the ACT is one of their front organizations. And until now, they cannot denounce that they are actually a front organization of the CPP-NPA-NDF,” said Albayalde.
Last month, the appellate court’s 11th Division cited shortcomings in ACT’s petition, including its failure to include certified true copies of the memoranda supposedly issued by the PNP’s intelligence units.
The court also cited the failure of ACT to state material dates in their petition, specifically the dates when the petitioners received the various assailed PNP memoranda.
It stressed that the petition likewise did not include the “current date of issuance of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines membership number of the petitioners’ counsel” and “the current date of issuance of the Professional Tax Number of the petitioners’ counsel” in violation of Bar Matter No. 287 dated Sept. 26, 2000 and Bar Matter No. 1132 dated Nov. 12, 2002, respectively.
