MANILA, Dec. 10, 2010—A Catholic priest has called on Malacañang to institute the necessary security measures in Maguindanao after another killing of a public school teacher last week.
Tough security, Fr. Eduardo Vasquez Jr., of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate said would discourage individuals and groups who were bent on engaging in criminal activities.
“I personally appeal to the Department of Education and Malacañang to intervene in the security problem of the teachers here in Datu Piang,†Vasquez said in an article posted on the OMI news site.
Unidentified men gunned down Shuaib Usop, a male teacher and concurrent district education coordinator at the Datu Gumbay Elementary School in Datu Piang, at their campus gate last Thursday.
Usop was killed just a month after masked men shot dead inside his house a public school principal in Datu Piang.
After last October’s village and youth council polls, Cotabato City-based Oblate Media Center reported that teachers in Datu Gumbay and six other schools in the province have been receiving threats from sources they believe were candidates that lost in the elections.
Few days after elections, the said principal was killed by still unidentified gunmen, which according to local authorities, was an offshoot of the recent polls.
Until now, many teachers still refused to report for work despite assurance from local officials that policemen will be deployed in the school’s vicinity.
“I pity the school children, I pity the teachers, I hope DepEd regional and national offices and Malacañang will look into it immediately,†Vasquez said.
“We need to put a stop to those who are doing this. Let us not wait for the time that no more teachers will serve in Datu Piang.†(CBCPNews)
