Alliance of Concerned Teachers

Last updated

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT Teachers)
Leader Antonio Tinio
Founded1982
2010 (as party-list)
Headquarters Quezon City
Ideology National democracy
Progressivism
Left-wing nationalism
Teachers interests
Human rights
Political position Left-wing
National affiliation Bayan
Makabayan
Colors  Light blue
SloganAng Tunay na Tinig ng Teachers! (The Real Voice of the Teachers!)
Seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines
1 / 303
House of Representatives party-list seats
1 / 63
Website
ACT-Teachers.com

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Teachers) is a progressive national democratic mass organization of teachers, academics, and other education workers in the Philippines, established on June 26, 1982. It is the largest non-traditional teachers' organization in the country, and campaigns for the economic and political rights of teachers and other education workers as well as on wider social and political issues.

Contents

ACT Teachers Partylist is part of the left-wing Makabayan Bloc, [1] and is known for its active campaign for salary hikes for teachers, [2] successful tax reduction initiatives, optional poll service duty for teachers, and lowering of optional retirement age of public school teachers. [3] [4]

History

In 1989, ACT succeeded in its campaign for higher wages of $32 a month as well as improved benefits for teachers. [5] This was achieved after public school teachers went on strike from July 24 to August 12.

On September 30, 2005, national council member of the ACT Vitoria Samonte was murdered, an act which was called a human rights violation. [6]

Another national council member, Napoleon Pornasdoro, was murdered on February 27, 2006. [6] They were also general secretary of the Southern Tagalog Teachers for Development. [6]

ACT Teachers Partylist is also an active proponent of the Supreme Court cases against the Philippine government's K to 12 system, co-filing at least two K to 12-related cases in 2015, [7] [8] and successfully securing a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a government order that abolishes Filipino language subject in college. [8] It also supported the abolition of the corruption-prone pork barrel system in the Philippine congress. [9] [10]

On June 1, 2024, the coalitions of Philippine Federation of the Deaf and Alliance of Concerned Teachers staged a protest-rally at Liwasang Bonifacio against the Commission on the Filipino Language-Arthur P. Casanova, for the cultural retention of Filipino Sign Language (Republic Act 11106). The members said the FSL Unit of the CFL abolition will effectively layoff the deaf personnel, “thus, depriving Deaf Filipinos of their language rights and violating the mandate of RA 7104.” [11] [12]

Objectives

ACT's stated objectives are: [13]

Membership requirements

Membership of ACT is open to national and regional organizations whose membership or composition include federations, unions, alliances, cooperatives, political, disciplinal or interest associations of teachers and education workers. Active and nationalist teaching and non-teaching personnel working in the education sector at any level (pre-school, elementary, secondary or tertiary) in both public and private institutions who are members of an education-based organization are eligible.

ACT is the umbrella group of two national organizations: the Congress of Teachers for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND), a militant and nationalist teachers' organization, and the National Federation of Teachers and Employees' Union (NAFTEU), the national organization of school-based labor unions. Membership in these organizations means automatic affiliation with ACT.

Individual members who are eligible are also accepted.

Organization

ACT's main organizing and consolidation activities are integration and education. Representatives of the organization make regular visits to update members on the organization's activities and campaigns. Discussions, dialogues, fora, and symposia are held related to current issues that directly or indirectly affect the education sector. ACT also promotes the principles and objectives of the organization among the population and campaigns against foreign influence on the Philippine educational system and wider society. ACT also provides institutional services like free legal aid, media representation, training, and other forms of assistance. It publishes a quarterly publication, the ACT Forum, for its membership.

Electoral performance

ElectionVotes %Seats
2010 372,9031.26%1
2013 453,4911.66%1
2016 1,180,7523.65%2
2019 395,3271.42%1
2022 330,5290.90%1

Representatives to Congress

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bagong Alyansang Makabayan</span> Left-wing alliance of Philippine organizations

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan is an alliance of left-wing Philippine organizations. It was founded on International Workers' Day, May 1, 1985 as part of the opposition during the Marcos dictatorship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriela Women's Party</span> Political party in the Philippines

The Gabriela Women's Party, or simply GABRIELA, is a progressive Filipino political party that advocates for women's issues and represents Filipino women in the House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satur Ocampo</span> Filipino politician, activist, journalist and writer

Saturnino "Satur" Cunanan Ocampo is a Filipino politician, activist, journalist, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Federation of the Deaf</span> Non-profit organization

The Philippine Federation of the Deaf, Inc. (PFD) is a non-stock, non-profit organization which caters to the general needs of deaf people in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filipino Sign Language</span> Sign language used in the Philippines

Filipino Sign Language (FSL) or Philippine Sign Language, is a sign language originating in the Philippines. Like other sign languages, FSL is a unique language with its own grammar, syntax and morphology; it is not based on and does not resemble Filipino or English. Some researchers consider the indigenous signs of FSL to be at risk of being lost due to the increasing influence of American Sign Language.

Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan is a coalition of twelve party-lists in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It was founded on April 16, 2009. The founding assembly was held at UP Theatre, Diliman, Quezon City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advocates of Science and Technology for the People</span>

Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, or simply Agham, is a non-governmental science advocacy organization based in the Philippines. Founded in 1999 by professors and students of the University of the Philippines Diliman, the group focuses its campaigns and community service in the areas of food security, public utilities, environment, national industrialization, science education, and the welfare of scientists in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabataan</span> Philippine party list affiliated with Makabayan

Kabataan, also known as the Kabataan Partylist and formerly known as Ang Nagkakaisang Kabataan Para sa Sambayanan, is a partylist in the Philippines affiliated with the leftist political coalition Makabayan. It is currently represented by Raoul Manuel at the Philippine Congress since 2022. According to its website, the partylist represents the youth sector, and aims to "galvanize the Filipino youth’s unity for social change," believing that the youth should "devote its intellect, energy, and courage to building a new society devoid of corruption, inequality, and social injustice."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanggol Wika</span>

Tanggol Wika or Alyansa ng Mga Tagapagtanggol ng Wikang Filipino is a Philippine-based organization founded in 2014 in an assembly of more than 300 professors, students, writers and cultural activists at the De La Salle University-Manila, as a response to the abolition of formerly mandatory Filipino language subjects in Philippine colleges and universities because of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013, which implements a new General Education Curriculum (GEC) as part and parcel of the Philippine government's adoption of the Kindergarten to 12 years of basic education or K to 12 program.

Antonio "Tonchi" Luansing Tinio is a Filipino activist and former member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines for ACT Teachers Partylist from 2010 to 2019 and served as Deputy Minority Leader in the 15th congress. He also served as the national chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) from 2002 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabataang Makabayan</span> Philippine socialist youth organization

Kabataang Makabayan, also known by the acronym KM, is an underground communist youth organization in the Philippines which was active from 1964 to 1975. It was banned by the Philippine government in 1972 when then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, and was driven underground. It was dissolved in 1975 along with other National Democratic mass organizations, as part of the National Democratic movement's change of strategy against the Marcos regime. Revived within the Manila-Rizal area in 1977 and later nationally in 1984, the organization continues to exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' resistance against the Marcos dictatorship</span> Opposition in the Philippines, 1970s and 1980s

During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino workers in the labor industry experienced the effects of government corruption, crony capitalism, and cheap labor for foreign transnational industries, One of the objectives of Martial Law was to cheapen labor costs, in order to attract transnational corporations to export labor to the Philippines. Marcos signed many presidential decrees beneficial only to his associates, while allowing for the forced relocation of indigenous peoples, decreasing workers' wages, and murders of labor activists. Minimum wage was a fixed PHP8.00 per day. Many workers were unemployed or underemployed. It was also during the Marcos presidency when the practice of contractualization began, enabling managements to avoid giving regular, permanent status to employees after six months of work. Strikes were banned and the government controlled trade unions, leaving workers without effective protection against employers who had unfair labor practices and regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Elago</span> Filipino politician (born 1989)

Sarah Jane Ibañez Elago is a Filipino activist and politician. She was a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for its 17th and 18th Congress, both times representing the youth sector under Kabataan Party-list. Before entering Congress, she was also the national president of the National Union of Students in the Philippines. As of May 2019, she was the youngest female lawmaker in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Probinsyano Party-list</span> Political party in the Philippines

The Alyansa ng mga Mamamayang Probinsyano, also known as the Ang Probinsyano Party-list (APPL) is political organization which has party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines as of the 18th Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlene Brosas</span> Filipina educator, activist and politician

Arlene D. Brosas is a Filipina educator, child rights activist, and politician. She is a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for the 19th Congress and was part of the 18th Congress under the Gabriela Women's Party-list group.

The Movement Against Tyranny, or MAT, is a Philippine movement that seeks to protest alleged acts of tyranny by the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. It was launched on August 28, 2017, at the Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City in the wake of the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos. The group also protests killings associated with the Philippines' war on drugs and harassment of media organizations.

The Ibalik ang Philippine History sa High School Movement is a collective term for an educational reform movement in the Philippines. It is a loose movement advocating the reinstatement of Philippine History as a dedicated Social Studies subject in the high school curriculum of the Philippines.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines is an alliance of student councils in the Philippines established in 1957. Advocating for democratic rights of students, it boasts about 600 member councils and is part of International Union of Students (IUS) and the Asia Pacific Youth and Students Association (ASA). It is also a member and a founding organization of Kabataan Partylist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raoul Manuel</span> Filipino activist

Raoul Danniel Abellar Manuel is a Filipino youth activist and politician serving as the representative for Kabataan partylist, of which he is the national president. He previously served as the president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France Castro</span> Filipina educator, activist and politician

Francisca Lustina Castro is a Filipino educator, trade union activist, and politician. She is a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for the 19th Congress and was part of the 18th Congress under the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list group. In Congress, she is among the principal authors of Republic Act 11466, which increased the minimum monthly salary of nurses in the Philippines. Castro is the former secretary general of ACT. In 2019, she was awarded the Arthur Svensson International Prize for Trade Union Rights for her work organizing teachers and the Febe Velasquez Trade Union Rights Award for her work in defense of trade unions and human rights.

References

  1. ↑ Ager, Maila. "Makabayan bloc endorses Poe-Escudero tandem". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ "SSL hurdles final reading at lower house". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ "REP. ANTONIO L. TINIO". ACT Teachers Party-list. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  4. ↑ "ACT Teachers Party-list  » House Bills". www.act-teachers.com. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Teachers, Government Workers Win Wage Hikes". Philippine Labor Alert Newsletter. June–September 1989. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 BLACKBURN, DANIEL (2006). "Union leaders face violent attacks". International Union Rights. 13 (3): 10–11. ISSN   1018-5909. JSTOR   41936381.
  7. ↑ Torres-Tupas, Tetch. "K-12 to displace thousands of teachers, students, say critics". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "SC stops CHED's 'anti-Filipino' new GE curriculum". Rappler. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ Gamil, Jaymee T. "Congress urged to junk 2015 budget due to pro-DAP provisions". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ Cruz, RG. "Scrap legislative, executive 'pork', PNoy urged". ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ Cruz, Norman (May 31, 2024). "Don't abolish Filipino sign language". Manila Standard . Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  12. ↑ Marcelo, Elizabeth (June 1, 2024). "CFL slammed over plan to abolish sign language unit". The Philippine Star . Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  13. ↑ "8-point Education Reform Agenda". Alliance of Concerned Teachers. January 31, 2008. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.