Duterte: No penalty for teacher in viral scolding video

CEBU, Philippines — No penalty will be imposed on a public school teacher who went viral for scolding her students while streaming live on TikTok, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said.

Duterte simply advised the teacher to take a moment to calm down when feeling frustrated.

“Lahat tayo umaabot sa punto na nagagalit tayo, lalo 'pag nafu-frustrate tayo. This is especially true sa mga teachers dahil ang teachers natin hindi lang isa na tao ang kausap nila,” Duterte said.

(We all reach a point where we get angry, especially when frustrated. This is especially true for teachers because they aren’t just talking to one person.)

“Sinabihan ko ang regional office natin na there will be no penalties for the teacher. Just to remind the teacher that if she is angry, she has to pause. Itigil muna iyong klase. And when she's not angry anymore, saka siya magklase ulit,” she added.

(I told our regional office that there will be no penalties for the teacher, just to remind the teacher that if she is angry, she has to pause. Stop the class for a moment. And when she’s no longer angry, then she can resume teaching.)

The teacher was issued a show-cause order on Monday and given 72 hours to explain her actions.

In the video streamed live on TikTok, the teacher angrily scolded her students for their behavior, saying in Filipino that they have “forgotten boundaries” and have routinely disrespected her.

The teacher used insulting language towards the students, such as “ugaling iskwater” (behaving like a squatter) and “ingrato” (ungrateful).

But according to Duterte, the teacher claimed that she did not know she was online while recording the video.

Duterte added that students who felt uncomfortable due to the teacher’s lashing could receive psychosocial support.

Policy to protect teacher

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) welcomed the development, saying it demonstrates “some level of empathy from the DepEd leadership towards the teacher.”

However, the group stressed that Duterte’s statement should be formalized into a policy to ensure its application beyond this specific case.

The TDC has long been pushing for a review of the DepEd Child Protection Policy and amendments to Republic Act 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law, which it said puts teachers at a disadvantage.

In an earlier statement, TDC chairperson Benjo Basas said the viral video shows a “bigger problem”—discipline in schools.

“In a classroom setting, discipline is indispensable. Children need discipline to learn. Unfortunately, the ability to discipline children is rendered obsolete by the classification of almost all forms of discipline as child abuse in our existing policies,” he said. – Philstar.com