Journalist Raffy Tulfo spoke again about the controversy he faced after he pushed for the revocation of a teacher’s license in his show.
On Monday, Tulfo admitted that there’s a lapse of judgment in his side, so he quickly tried to convince the complainants to withdraw their previous plans to remove teacher Melita Limjuco’s teaching license.
However, he was saddened after seeing that no one tried to side with the child who received disciplinary action from Limjuco while the teacher received mass support from the netizens.
“Ang dami po sa inyong nakisawsaw, kung ano man ang inyong pakay sa pakikisawsaw, kayo lang po ang nakakaalam ‘non,” Tulfo said.
“And yet ni isa wala man lang reach out sa family maging sa bata, ‘sir, ma’am, iho kamusta kayo?, ikaw ba’y nakakakain pa iho, ikaw ba’y nakakatulog pa, bakit hindi ka na pumapasok ng ilang araw, what is going on?'” he added.
According to him, teacher Limjuco doesn’t have a problem anymore as her issue was already settled, but she’s still receiving help from the netizens.
He said that the issue is an awakening call for the netizens to be aware that there’s a law that protected the students from receiving extreme disciplinary actions from teachers.
Tulfo pointed out that the Department of Education (DepEd) released a memorandum in 2012, reminding all teachers that there’s a limitation on giving disciplinary actions to their students and that would be zero tolerance.
He also said that DepEd on the same memorandum ordered the creation of the ‘Child Protection Committee’ (CPC), a group consisting of principal, teachers, guidance counselor, barangay officials and social worker.
However, Tulfo said that the creation of CPC didn’t follow by most of the public schools around the country.
“Kung meron po niyan, yan dapat ang dumidinig sa mga nangyayaring problema between teachers and students, sila po ang nag aayos ng problemang yan,” said Tulfo.
“Kung meron niyan sana, hindi na kailangan pang pumunta dito sa Wanted sa Radyo ang mga magulang para ireklamo ang mga pangaabuso ng mga guro,” he added.
The journalist revealed that he already talked to the child and he really pitied him.
He insisted that the real victim in this issue is the child and not the teacher, however some netizens are still criticizing the student.
“Maraming nagsasabi na tama lang yan, kailangan talaga ay saktan… ganyan ba kayong klaseng mga magulang? Dahil hindi niyo kayang idisiplina ang inyong mga anak so ipinapasa niyo yung pag didisiplina sa ibang tao,” he exclaimed.
Tulfo said that he doesn’t want his children to experience the disciplinary actions he faced during the time when there’s no law that would protect him from teachers.
“Let’s think of the children, wag po yung ating makasariling kapakanan, wag po tayong sawsaw ng sawsaw, para lang tayo’y may masawsawan para tayo’y sumikat o kung ano man ang agenda natin,” he said.
“Look at the real victim, who is the real victim, meron bang nag sorry sa bata? wala? ni isa sa inyo walang nag mention about the child welfare, what is going on? Eto na ba ang society na meron tayo ngayon?” he added.
Meanwhile, Tulfo invited the complainants Jefferson and Rosemil Edroso to his program.
Jefferson and Rosemil denied that they apologized to Limjuco as part of the settlement and they complained about a lawyer who spread that news on social media despite a gag order.
Tulfo also described the appearance of Jefferson and Rosemil, saying that they’re really affected by the issue.
Before the end of the video, it can be seen the journalist stopping himself from fuming and wishing that the netizens who criticizing him would not experience what the Edroso family is facing right now.
“Kung sa inyo kaya mangyari yan? I pray to God na wag mangyari sa inyo yan, dahil pag sa inyo nangyari yan ay baka maghurimentado kayo, madaling magsalita kasi hindi nangyari sa inyo yan,” said Tulfo.
“I’m sorry again kung ako po’y nakapagbitaw ng mga salita ngayon, kasi when it comes to children, I’m really emotional, I’m here to protect the children, I will not stop,” he added.