November 23 ------ Actress and philanthropist Angel Locsin said she doesn't want the license of the teacher who body-shamed her in an exam material to be revoked. In a photo of the exam material that circulated online last week, Angel was used as an example in the physical education portion, describing her as an “obese person” and then mentioning her supposed inactive lifestyle. “Angel Locsin is an obese person. She, together with Coco Martin eats fatty and sweet food in Mang Inasal fast food restaurant most of the time. In her house, she always watching television (sic) and does not have any physical activities," the material, which was made by a teacher from Occidental Mindoro, read.
Leaving a comment on her Instagram page, one netizen wrote: “Hindi ba unethical ang ginawa ng teacher na yan, which I think is enough reason to revoke his/her license?” Angel answered: “Hindi naman kailangang umabot sa ganun.” Last week, the Department of Education office in Occidental Mindoro issued an apology for the content of the material, saying that it did not go through the quality assurance procedure of the DepEd Central Office.
“Upon initial investigation, this Office found out that the said material is not contained in the self-learning module (SLM) developed and quality assured by DepEd Central Office. The said material is a teacher-made assessment for a Grade 10 MAPEH class purposely to measure specific competencies of the learning area,” Roger F. Capa, the Schools Division Superintendent in Occidental Mindoro, said. "We would like to express our sincerest apology to the concerned individuals who may have been offended or harmed by this incident. The Department of Education does not tolerate nor condone any act of body shaming, ad hominem or any similar act of bullying both in the physical and virtual environments," he added.
Reacting to the statement, Angel urged an apology from the teacher behind the exam material. "I don’t mind the insults. Cheap comments do not define who I am. I intended to ignore this issue, but when I read deped’s statement, aba teka lang," she said in an Instagram post. "What bothers me most is apart from teaching incorrect grammar to the students, DepEd seems unaffected that the said teacher is teaching bad conduct and sowing discrimination among the children. Anong mangyayare sa future kung ang mga kabataan ay tinuturuan ng pambabastos at pangungutya sa kapwa?" she continued. "This is the more relevant issue deped, that you should be held accountable and must correct. Sa inyo naka salalay ang pag asa ng ating milyon milyong kabataan. The said teacher should apologize to his students and all the students that read the module," she added. Aside from her fans, fellow celebrities also came to the defense of Angel amid the issue, including Kris Aquino and Angelica Panganiban.
Source: push.abs-cbn.com