UP PROFESSORS ON K TO 12: LENGTHENING THE SUFFERING, INCREASING THE BURDEN

UP PROFESSORS ON K TO 12:  LENGTHENING THE SUFFERING, INCREASING THE BURDEN

Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy –University of the Philippines (CONTEND-UP) Member, Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Philippines (ACT-Phils.)

It is true that the Philippines is one of the few countries in the world that has only four  years of secondary education.

It is also true that with a conservative figure of around 35 students per teacher in high school, the Philippines has currently the worst teacher student ratio in the secondary level of education  in the East
Asia and the Pacific region. For example, Malaysia and Singapore have a ratio of 14 pupils per teacher, Thailand 19, Indonesia 12, Vietnam 18. (All data cited represent the latest available from UNESCO.)

It furthermore cannot be denied that the Philippines allocates only a measly 2.6 % of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the total education budget in contrast to Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore which allot more than 3 %. Vietnam on the other hand allocates more than 5 % while Malaysia spends close to the ideal 6 % yearly. The industrialized nations of the world spend on average 6 % of their GDP on education. The Education Development Index (EDI) which ranks countries according to compliance with the United Nations Millennium Goal of “Education for All” puts the Philippines at rank 85 while neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia are 69 and 65 respectively. The lack of adequate budget and resources has consistently been identified in the past as the main reason for the deterioration and demoralization of Philippine education.

In 1970, the Philippines and China were the only nations with four years of secondary education. In 1977 China added one year and another year subsequently to make a total of six. Of the 39 countries which
had five years of secondary education in 1970 only nine have shifted from five years to six and another five countries from five years to seven.

Bhutan, the setting of the fictional Kingdom of Yangdon in the telenovela “The Princess and I” underwent a similar transition to that which the Philippines will undergo under the so-called K to 12 Program. In 2003, Bhutan lengthened secondary education from four to six years. Bhutan may be a poorer country than the Philippines in many respects but it seems to have a better sense of educational priorities. In 2001, two years before the change to six years, it increased public expenditure in education as percentage of GDP from
5.8% to 5.9%. After two years of implementing the transition, public expenditure for education rose to a very high 7.2 percent of the GDP. (It has since then been lowered to around 4 percent currently.) In
1998 its teacher to pupil ratio was 38.6, but in 2006 this had been reduced to 22.8 even with the additional two years of secondary education. Having learned nothing from Yangdon, even as it currently
implements K to 12 (which the Department of Education estimates will cost P150B), the Philippine government has made no significant gesture at increasing the budget for education as a whole and towards
improving such important indicators for quality as the teacher-pupil ratio.

However, the more fundamental question is, does the Philippines really have to undergo such a transition to six years? A study by Felipe and Porio in 2010 has shown that the deplorable, bottom-rung results of the Philippines in international Math and Science tests (TIMMS) is not the result of merely having a shorter education cycle. They discovered that elementary students from countries such as Russia, Latvia, Hungary, Italy, Egypt and Iran with even shorter elementary cycles than the Philippines were easily able to surpass the Filipino 4th and eighth graders. It was also determined in another study that although Malaysia and Brunei had longer education cycles, it turned out that the Philippines had actually allotted longer hours of instruction time per subject. These longer hours of instruction however did not translate into higher scores. The superior results of these other countries could probably be better explained by the higher percentages of GDP reserved for education as a whole and their use of more comprehensible national languages in math and science. Some even less developed and poorer countries than the Philippines do indeed have
longer basic education cycles. But this does not imply that these longer periods necessarily translate into higher quality. These may instead merely result in longer periods of “education” languishing in decrepit and deplorable conditions.

The supposed “shortage” of time in teaching is simply not as urgent as the other major shortages which have plagued Philippine education for decades. The notion that the curriculum needs to be “decongested”
implies that there is not enough time to learn everything that must be learned. But who or what dictates this “everything” which supposedly must be learned and the number of hours which it must be taught? What
are these knowledges, or curricular contents, which are supposedly comparable and exchangeable internationally? It is taken for granted that these are derived from some vague “international standards.”
However these are actually dictated and imposed by international business interests and their spokesmen in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in treaties such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The loss of national sovereignty in determining national standards and priorities in basic education is mystifyingly taken for granted by the “anti-congestion” proponents of K to 12. The deep erosion of academic freedom in institutions of higher education in the name of neo-liberal ideology, managerialism and the domination of market forces is furthermore accepted without question.

Another reason cited by the Department of Education in defense of the K to 12 Program is that the Philippines must lengthen secondary education by two years in order to comply (at least on paper) with “international standards” set by treaties such as the Bologna Process and the Washington Accord. The explicit principal intent of the Bologna Process is to make European Universities “more competitive” internationally in attracting foreign (especially Asian) students. Ironically, our “compliance” with it is intended to make us more eligible buyers and “consumers” of the educational “products” which they offer. This has obviously nothing to do with Philippine economic interests. On the other hand, the government’s labor export policy also faces the very real obstacle posed by international professional standards which supposedly require twelve years of basic education for the practice of professions. In the contemporary situation in which at least 45% of Filipinos live in poverty, a better proposal than making all poor households pay more for the additional two years of high school would be to make those who want to work or study abroad pay for
the additional costs through other appropriate systems of assessment and accreditation.

Rather than spreading further the education budget for this big project, which merely reflects the politics of educational reform in our country, the State should concentrate its efforts and budget in basic education -improving the quality, building science education, scholarship, establishing centers for teachers continuing education.
 
We can be certain that the K to 12 Program of the current government will not raise the quality of Philippine education, instead it will only lengthen the suffering of students in a decrepit, corrupt and miserably underfunded system. The additional two years will also constitute an additional and insupportable burden among the majority of poor families struggling to put their children through high school.
Finally, the K to 12 Program will not redound to the benefit of the Filipino people since it firmly puts foreign interests before the development priorities and educational needs of our country.

Stop Implementation of PNoy’s K12-Phase2!

Prioritize Implementation of Quality Kinder Education!

Immediately Address Shortages of Teachers, Classrooms & Facilities!

Upgrade Salaries of Teachers & Increase Base Pay of Employees!

Provide Greater Education Budget, 6% of GDP Now!

27 May 2012

Malaganap na kalituhan, kaguluhan, disoryentasyon at diskuntento ang umiiral ngayon, isang linggo bago magpasukan, sa hanay ng mga guro sa buong bansa, pati na rin sa hanay ng mga estudyanyante, magulang at administrasyon ng mga pampubliko at pribadong paaralan sa basic pati na rin sa tertiary education.

Ito ay dulot ng pagmamadali, pwersahan at iresponsableng pagpapatupad ng DepEd at ni PNoy ng K12-Phase2 ngayong taon kahit wala pa itong batas, walang kurikulum, walang kahandaan, walang pondo at malaki pa ang shortages sa bilang ng mga teachers, classrooms at sanitation facilities.

Palpak at disaster ang partial implementation ng Kinder Program

Nitong nakaraang taon, SY2011-12, ay pwersahan ding pinatupad ng DepEd at ng Malacanang ang tinuran nitong “universal kinder program” kahit wala pa itong batas; walang matinong kurikulum; walang pag-aaral, pagsasanay at paghahanda; walang sapat na bilang ng teachers, classrooms, chairs, textbooks at sanitation facilities; at walang pondo.

Kaya naman nagmistulang mga basang sisiw ang mga mahigit sa 1 milyong batang kinder at nagdusa naman ang libo-libong volunteer teachers na kinontratang tumanggap nang P3000-P6000 allowance lamang sa pagtuturo ng kinder, delayed pa.

Nang magreklamo ang mga teachers, students at parents sa pamumuno ng ACT hinggil sa palpak na pwersahang pagpapatupad ng “universal kinder program”, ang napakairesponsableng sagot lamang ng DepEd at ng Malacanang sa mga guro, bata at magulang ay wala pa raw kasing batas kaya wala pang pondo para sa “universal kinder program.”

Mas malaking kapalpakan at disaster ang implementation ng K12-Phase2

Ganito na naman ang nangyayari ngayong SY2012-13. Muli na namang nagyayabang ang DepEd at Malacanang sa iresponsable, pwersahan at madalian nitong pagpapatupad ng K12-phase 2, at ngayon ang kawawang mga biktima naman ay mga Grade 1 at first year high school teachers and students.

Hindi na natuto ang DepEd at ang Malacanang sa palpak na pagpapatupad nila sa K12-phase1 o “universal kinder program”,  kaya tiyak palpak na naman sila sa pagpapatupad ng K12-phase2. Tiyak na mas malaking disaster kaysa sa nakaraang taon ang nag-aabang sa mga teachers, students at mga magulang ngayong pasukan.

Ngayon pa lang, isang linggo bago ang pasukan, ay malaking kalituhan at kaguluhan na ang dulot ng adelentadong pagpapatupad ng K12-phase2 sa hanay ng mga teachers na nitong huling linggo ng Abril lamang sinimulang isalang ng DepEd sa trainors’ training ng K12.

Malaganap na kalituhan, kaguluhan, disoryentasyon at diskunteto sa K12

Sandamakmak ang mga katanungan, kalituhan at kaguluhan. Bakit wala pang batas ay pinapatupad na ang K12? Bakit walang K12 kurikulum? Nasaan ang mga teksto, module at lesson plan? Paano ituturo ito?

Bakit sisimulan na ang K12-phase2 sa Grade1 samantalang ngayong SY2012-13 pa lamang sisimulan ang pormal na mandatory universal kinder program ayon sa batas nito bilang K12-phase1?

Bakit sisimulan na rin ang K12-phase2 sa “Grade 7” o “1^st year Junior high school” samantalang nasa lumang grade school kurikulum pa ang mga graduates nito na magiging incoming first year highschool? Bakit tumalon na agad sa high school ang K12 kurikulum samantalang wala pa namang K12 kurikulum sa grade school? Mababawasan ba o madadagdagan ang oras ng pag-aaral at pagtuturo sa isang araw?

Ano naman itong mother-tongue/multi-language? Panibago ba itong subject? Paano ito gagamitin? Paano ito ituturo?

Ano na ang laman ng Senior high school? Kung ituturo na sa dalawang taong Senior high school ang general education sa unang dalawang taon sa college, ano na ang ituturo sa unang dalawang taon sa college? Sino na ang magtuturo sa Senior high school, mga college instructors at professors? Tatanggalin na ba sa college ang P.E. subjects at ililipat na lang ito sa Senior high school?

Ano ang mangyayari sa SY2016-17 at SY2017-18 kung saan walang magiging senior high school graduates kaya wala ring papasok sa college bilang mga freshies? Sakop at saklaw ba ng K12 ang mga private schools? Ano ang magiging kurikulum sa kolehiyo?

Napakaraming katanungan at ang bawat kasagutan kung meron man ay nag-aanak pa ng mas maraming katanungan, kalituhan, kaguluhan, disoryentasyon at diskuntento. Ito na mga senyales ng magaganap na mas malalang kapalpakan at disaster ngayong pasukan dahil talagang napaka-amateur, unprofessional, pwersahan, iresponsable at atat na atat na nagmamadaling pinapatupad ng DepEd at ng Malacanang ang K12 na wala pa namang batas, pondo, laman at kahandaan!

Mga Kagyat na Panawagan at Kahilingan

Kung talagang seryoso ang DepEd at ang Malacanang sa pagreporma ng edukasyon, dapat nitong unahin muna ang pag-atupag sa pagpapatupad at pagpapaunlad ng quality kinder education program na naisabatas nitong Enero 2012 lamang, samantalang wala pang batas ang K12!

Kailangan din munang unahin ang pagpuno at pagresolba sa krisis sa shortages ng teachers, classrooms, sanitation facilities, textbooks, instructional materials, at ang pagdoble ng badyet sa MOOE ng mga paaralan; ang pagsasabatas at pagpapatupad ng salary upgrading ng mga teachers (SG15) at instructors (SG16) at P6,000 dagdag sa base pay ng mga kawani; at, ang paglaan ng malaking badyet sa edukasyon na di bababa sa UN standard 6% of GDP.

Kaya ang Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) ay nananawagan sa DepEd at kay PNoy mismo na:

1.      Ihinto na ang pagpapatupad ng ikalawang yugto ng K12 ngayong SY2012-13.

Isalang pa ito sa mas seryoso, mas komprehensibo at mas depenidong pag-aaral, pagbabalangkas at paghahanda batay sa mas malalim at mas komprehensibong pagsusuri at pagtukoy ng mga pundamental na suliranin ng sistema ng edukasyon sa partikular at ng sistema ng lipunan sa kabuuan.

At huwag ibatay ang anumang reporma sa edukasyon ng ating bansa nang basta-basta na lang ayon sa pag-aaral at panukala ng mga foreign-business institutions & corporations tulad ng SEAMEO-Innotech, Washington Accord at Bologna Process.

Kailangang magsilbing pananaw at balangkas natin ang pagtataguyod ng isang edukasyong makabayan, siyentipiko at makamasa na magsisilbi sa pagtataguyod ng pagtatatag ng bansang may tunay at ganap na kalayaan, demokrasya, katarungan, kaunlaran, kasaganahan at kapayapaan.

Kailangang magbuo ng isang Komisyon na may buong kredibilidad, awtoridad at pondo upang maisagawa ang lahat na ito.

2.      Pagtuunan at pagbuhasan muna ng buong panahon, pondo, rekurso at paghahanda ang pagpapatupad at pagpapaunlad ng Quality Kinder Education bilang pundasyon ng basic education ng kabataang Pilipino.

a.      At least 30,000 new regular teaching items para sa kinder; iayon sa pasweldo ng SSL3; hindi dapat kontraktwal at volunteer; may sapat at angkop na kwalipikasyon sa pagtuturo ng kinder

b.      Teacher Aide per class na siyang maaaring ituring na “volunteer”;

c.      25 kinder students per class

d.      Sa mga Grade 1 teachers at iba pang non-kinder teacher na pagtuturin sa kinder, dapat iayon sa magna carta ang additional compensation

e.      Sapat na bilang ng classrooms at sanitation facilities

f.        Kalidad na curriculum/teaching & study guide/training/textbooks/instructional materials

3.      Punuan at iresolba muna ang krisis sa shortages sa bilang ng mga teachers, classrooms, sanitation facilities, textbooks, instructional materials, atbp. Doblehin ang budget sa MOOË ng mga paaralan.

4.      Isabatas at ipatupad muna ang Salary Upgrading ng mga Teachers (SG15) at Instructors (SG16), at dagdagan ng P6,000 ang base pay ng mga kawani.

5.      Maglaan muna ng malaking badyet sa edukasyon na hindi bababa sa UN Standard 6% of GDP.

NEWS RELEASE
December 6, 2010

Reference: Ms. France Castro

Secretary-General, ACT

Cellphone no. 09178502124

Mr. Benjie Valbuena

Vice Chairperson, ACT

Cellphone no. 09182399222

Teachers support Morong 43’s hunger strike, affirms its call for their immediate and unconditional release

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) supports the on-going hunger strike of political detainees led by the 43 health workers who were illegally arrested by the AFP last February 6, 2010 in Morong, Rizal.

ACT Secretary General France L. Castro condemns the Aquino administration’s inaction despite the overwhelming appeal of various sectors including the international community for the immediate and unconditional release of the 43 health workers.

“The President himself has admitted that the health workers’ arrest was ‘defective’, and yet he does not perform due measures to rectify such kind of illegal imprisonment,” said Castro. “As the leader of this country, P-Noy should always uphold human rights, but in this case, he has denied justice to the 43 health workers,” Castro added.

Reports reveal that the 43 health workers are currently suffering from physical and psychological torture and harassments from the military.

“We challenge President Aquino to resolve this matter in the soonest possible time as the International Human Rights Day is fast approaching,” Castro ended.

Meanwhile, ACT Vice Chairperson Benjamin Valbuena recalled a similar experience during the 1990’s wherein militant teachers also staged a hunger strike to demand justice for the illegally dismissed teachers who led a nation-wide protest for salary increases during Corazon Aquino’s term. “We also had the same form of protest during the 1990’s under then Education Secretary Ricardo Cariño,” Valbuena mused.

The hunger strike of the 43 health workers can be considered as a drastic effort demand immediate justice for being illegally detained.

Valbuena emphasized that the 43 health workers are just few of the victims of the US Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Program adapted by the Pnoy’s administration. “Nothing has changed. To date, Pnoy’s first s ix months in office, there were already 20 extra-judicial killings, 2 enforced disappearances, 16 torture victims and 23 illegally arrested based on KARAPATAN report,” Valbuena concluded. ###

Teachers to troop to Malacanang, air their demands on GSIS to P-Noy

NEWS RELEASE -- September 3, 2010

Ref: France Castro, Secretary General (Mobile No. 09178502124)

Benjie Valbuena, Nat’l Vice-chairperson (09182399222)

Teachers to troop to Malacanang, air their demands on GSIS to P-Noy

Hundreds of teacher-leaders from the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), and teachers' federations of the National Capital Region, will troop to Malacanang today at 3pm, to air their concerns on the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to President Benigno Aquino III.

ACT Secretary General Ms. France Castro said that they have requested to hold a dialog with the President so that they may present to him personally their issues and demands. She also added that they will also give to the president their urgent appeal regarding their concerns on the GSIS which is signed by thousands of teachers.

"The government employees, largely composed of teachers, have been burdened by unjust policies of the GSIS for years." Castro said. "Former president Gloria Arroyo did not do anything about it despite our clamor, which further aggravated our problems. It's high time that Pres. Noynoy did something about this."

ACT Vice-Chairperson Benjie Valbuena also said that during the leadership of former GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia, policies that are unlawful and that have caused hardships on GSIS members were introduced and implemented. Among these are the Premium-Based Policy and the Claims and Loan Interdependency Program (CLIP).

Valbuena added that the teachers and government employees are suffering from these policies, but their contributions have been used to line the pockets of GSIS officials who each received P6M in 2009 alone.

"Eventhough Garcia is no longer with the GSIS, the unjust policies are still being implemented and still continue to be a burden to us members," Valbuena said. "We demand that these unlawful and unjust policies be scrapped, and Garcia and his cohorts be held accountable!"

ACT also called on Pres. Aquino to appointment genuine representatives of public school teachers, government employees and retirees in the GSIS Board. They also demanded that the GSIS immediately refund all amount which were illegally deducted from members; the investigation and prosecution of Garcia and his cohorts regarding the use of GSIS funds and the implementation of unjust policies.

ACT also demanded for the dropping of charges and suits filed by Garcia against ACT Chairperson, and now ACT TEACHERS Partylist congressman Antonio Tinio.

"We hope that Pres. Noynoy will not only hear our demands, but to also act on it now," Valbuena added.

Together with ACT, teacher-leaders from the Manila Public School Association (MPSTA) and Quezon City Public School Association (QCPSTA) will join the dialog. ###

++++++++

AN URGENT APPEAL TO PRESIDENT NOY REGARDING OUR CONCERNS ON GSIS

(Alliance of Concerned Teachers)

The Government Service Insurance System was created by Commonwealth Act 186 way back in 1936 as a social insurance fund for all government employees in order to promote their efficiency and welfare.

During the leadership of President and General Manager Winston Garcia, policies were approved and implemented through mere board resolutions. These policies were unlawful and have caused hardships on us GSIS members.

These are the Premium-Based Policy and the Claims and Loan Interdependency Program. Under the Premium-based policy, the GSIS arbitrarily deducts from the social security benefits and any loan proceeds of the us members the premium contributions which, although already compulsorily deducted from our salaries, were not remitted by our employers to the GSIS.

Under the GSIS ACT, it is the obligation of the government agency concerned to remit said premiums to the GSIS, just as it is the duty of the GSIS to collect said premiums from these agencies. This is tantamount to punishing us members twice. It is not our fault if our respective agencies did not remit on time. The law states that the agency heads should be penalized in these cases.

The CLIP is another forced deduction scheme wherein obligations which are not yet due or are covered by a separate contract, like mortgage contracts, are deducted from the benefits and loan proceeds of GSIS members.

We GSIS members have long suffered because of this system in the GSIS. Many of us who have retired, some who have died and those of us who are in the active service continue to be victims of these unjust practices. And it is ironical that while we sacrifice and cannot get on time what is rightfully due us as claims, the administration and employees of GSIS get monthly salaries and yearly bonuses and benefits that are extravagantly high.

The new administration of President Noy has promised reforms. He has pledged to take the right path and therefore correct wrongdoings in the government. Let us therefore ask him to act on our demands so that the GSIS will serve as a reliable and just institution of government employees like us public school teachers and personnel.

1. To appoint genuine representatives of public school teachers, government employees and retirees in the GSIS Board. Of the 1.2 million members of the GSIS, 538,000 are from the Department of Education. May we therefore ask that the public school teachers be rightfully represented by a teacher leader who will ensure adequate and active participation in the policy-making process that affect the benefits and interests, especially of the public school teacher GSIS members. Incidentally, we are recommending Ms. Francisca Castro, the Secretary General of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers for consideration in this position. She is also the President of the Quezon City Public School Teachers Association, which is the biggest federation of Public School Teachers nationwide. She has been an active participant in the Task Force GSIS which was formed by the Department of Education in 2007 to 2009.

2. Advise GSIS to immediately refund all amount which were illegally deducted from the members. One concrete example of this is the case of the unpaid government share in premiums from 1997 to 1998 (the government failed to pay the increase in the premiums for a total of 18 months – July, 1997 to December, 1998). There was an increase in premium from 9.5% to 12%. GSIS started deducting this from their members in August, 2003. In 2006, DBM released the total amount of P3,299,791.00 (this was the equivalent of the 2.5% increase in government share earlier deducted from its members) so that GSIS could refund this deduction. Guidelines for refund were released in 2007. Up to now, this has not yet been refunded.

3. Invalidate and scrap the Premium-Based Policy and the Claims and Loan Interdependency program(CLIP) and direct the re-computation of benefits of all active and retired (and even those who have died) beneficiaries and immediately refund all over-payments made by them.

4. Investigate and prosecute Winston Garcia and his cohorts regarding the proper use of GSIS funds and in the implementation of unlawful policies that have caused untold sufferings to the GSIS members.

5. Recall and scrap court charges and suits filed by Winston Garcia against those who questioned and criticized his unlawful acts and policies. An example of this is the five counts of libel suit filed against our ACT Chairperson and now Representative of the ACT Teachers Partylist, Congressman Antonio Tinio.

We, the undersigned public school teachers and personnel, present these demands to President Noy for immediate action.

Teachers to Arroyo: “Good riddance to bad rubbish!”

Teachers to Arroyo: “Good riddance to bad rubbish!”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) today joins various cause-oriented groups in bidding “Goodbye and good riddance!” to outgoing president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on her last day in office.

“The teachers will never forget Arroyo’s deplorable legacy to the teachers – inadequate teachers’ salaries, unjust policies of the GSIS, worsening teaching conditions due to shortages of critical resources in our public schools,” ACT Secretary General France Castro said.

Castro added that the teachers breathe a small sigh of relief in the knowledge that Arroyo is now leaving Malacanang, and finally ending her very miserable performance as president and her even more miserable performance to address the problems of the teachers and the Philippine education system. “We still hold her accountable for the legacy from her years as president,” she said.

However, Castro said, as long as these problems of the teachers and the educational system still remain, ACT will continue to fight for adequate salaries and benefits for teachers, additional government budget for education, and for the government to address the shortages of schools’ resources.

ACT also warns incoming president Noynoy Aquino not to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and for him to pursue bold steps to resolve the crisis on education.

The teachers urged Aquino to implement the following pressing issues on his first 100 days in office:

• Salary increase for teachers in the public and private sector. In the public sector, ensure the full implementation of the Salary Standardization Law 3 in the 2010;
• Immediate replacement of Winston Garcia as President and General Manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and rescinding of the unfair and unjust policies (premium-based policy, claims and loans interdependency policy, etc.) implemented during his term;
• Supplemental budget that will substantially address critical shortages in basic education and augment funding for state universities and colleges;
• Seek justice for teachers victimized by extrajudicial killings perpetrated during the Arroyo administration. These include the killings of ACT leaders Napoleon Pornasdoro and Vitoria Samonte; college professor and human rights activist Jose Maria Cui; and the young teacher Rebelyn Pitao.

“The teachers will be vigilant and continue to struggle until the crisis on education is resolved,” concluded Castro.###

News Release June 30, 2010

Teachers urge P-Noy to replace, file charges vs GSIS prexy Davao City –

Members of Kahugpungan sa mga Magtutudlo ug Kawani sa Edukasyon sa Mindanao – Alliance of Concerned Teachers (KAMKEM-ACT)
urge today President-elect Noynoy Aquino to oust GSIS
President and General Manager Winston Garcia and make him accountable
for the unjust policies that has troubled thousands of teacher
beneficiaries.

“For nearly one decade, we have suffered from the unjust policies
imposed by its politically-influential President and General Manager,
Winston Garcia,” said KAMKEM-ACT Davao Chairperson Elenito Escalante.

“Under the administration of Garcia, who is a strong ally of the Arroyo
administration, the GSIS has deprived us of benefits to which we are
entitled. We are burdened with huge deductions on the maturity of our
GSIS insurance policy, of being charged with unexplained premiums in
arrears, of not receiving annual dividends from GSIS, of being
denied survivorship benefits, of GSIS’ failure to deduct loan payments
resulting in huge interests on loans, and huge deductions suffered by
retirees,” Escalante said.

Davao teachers have previously protested Arroyo’s duplicity
in tolerating GSIS during a protest action held in front of the GSIS
office early this year.

“The Arroyo-Garcia tandem is at the root of our problems with
the GSIS and we challenge the new administration to make Arroyo and
Garcia accountable by filing administrative, criminal and civil charges
against them; Garcia for one violated key provisions of the GSIS law,”
Escalante said.

Among the demands of KAMKEM-ACT are the immediate refund of
all unwarranted deductions made by GSIS against members’ benefits;
scrapping of the Premium-Based Policy, the Claims and Loans
Interdependency Program, and other policies introduced by Garcia which
have deprived GSIS members of the full enjoyment of benefits to which
they are entitled; and introduction of genuine reforms that will
strengthen the role of GSIS as the social security fund of government
employees. #

For reference:

ELENITO ESCALANTE

0923-852-8506

ACT TEACHERS

PARTYLIST

Rm. 301, UCCP Bldg., 877 EDSA, Quezon City

Mobile 0920-9220817 Email actpl2010@gmail. com

Website www.act-teachers. org

February 22, 2010

NEWS RELEASE

References:

Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817) , ACT TEACHERS Partylist National President

U.S. firm engaged by COMELEC for source code review

has tainted record

The U.S. firm employed by the Commission on Elections to certify the Automated Election System to be used in the May 2010 national elections has a tainted track record in reviewing election systems.

This was pointed out by ACT TEACHERS Partylist president Antonio Tinio in a press statement today.

On February 9, 2010, COMELEC announced that SysTest Labs of Denver, Colorado has completed its review of the source code and has certified it for use in the upcoming elections.

According to its website (http://www.systest. com/), SysTest Labs, Incorporated is an internationally- accredited “quality assurance and software performance testing company.” Last October 2009, COMELEC, through Resolution No. 8677, awarded SysTest Labs a Php 70 million contract to conduct the testing and certification, including the legally-mandated source code review, of the Automated Election System.

“Source code review is critical because this is the only way the public can be assured that the voting machines to be used in May can be trusted—meaning they are accurately counting the actual votes cast by voters,” explained Tinio. He explained that the source code refers to the human-readable instructions to be executed by the electronic counting machines that will be used to count votes in the upcoming elections.

Tinio cited Section 12 of Republic Act 9369, the poll automation law, which requires the COMELEC to make the source code of the computer programs to be used in the May 2010 elections to be made available to the public for review. Section 14 states: "Once an AES technology is selected for implementation, the Commission shall promptly make the source code of that technology available and open to any interested political party or groups which may conduct their own review thereof."

However, the COMELEC is under heavy fire for restricting access to the software source code to be used by Smartmatic-TIM. Smartmatic is the Venezuelan firm contracted by COMELEC to implement poll automation. “Instead of making the source code available to any interested party for review, COMELEC chose to engage SysTest Labs as an independent, third party reviewer, who will have complete and exclusive access to Smartmatic’s source code. This is a blatant violation of the law,” said Tinio. “What makes it worse is that the firm chosen by COMELEC has a tainted track record as a reviewer of automated election systems.”

Accreditation suspended by US federal government

Tinio pointed out that in October 2008, the US federal government suspended its accreditation of SysTest Labs as one of five independent laboratories that could conduct testing and certification of electronic voting systems to be used in US elections. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology suspended its accreditation after it observed SysTest Lab’s “lack of properly documented and validated test methods,” “testing conducted by unqualified or untrained personnel,” and “improper assurances made to manufacturers regarding testing outcomes.” [i]

“The US federal government was concerned not only that SysTest Labs did not have the technical competence to review electronic voting systems. What’s worse, it raised questions about the company’s ethics,” said Tinio.

Tinio noted that the US Election Assistance Commisison investigated SysTest Labs for allowing one of its clients, the manufacturer and vendor ES&S (Election Systems and Software), to unduly influence its certification procedures. “EAC has concerns that SysTest is allowing and inviting manufacturers to play an inappropriate role in the development of test plans.” Furthermore, “it is not appropriate for a manufacturer to be directly involved in creating plans for testing their own systems.” The EAC also chided SysTest labs for making “an inappropriate promise of certification” to the manufacturer.[ii]

“In other words, the US federal government was concerned that SysTest Labs was rigging its certification process in behalf of ES&S,” said Tinio. He noted that ES&S iVotronics touch screen electronic voting system certified by SysTest Labs has been cited in a number of electoral controversies, including statewide and local elections in Florida in 2006.[iii]

As a fallout from the suspension of its accreditation, in January 2009, another election services vendor, Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold), sued SysTest Labs in a US Federal Court for fraud, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion and deception. Premier claimed that SysTest Lab’s substandard procedures wreaked havoc on its business.[iv]

Tinio noted that Smartmatic has had a long-standing relationship with SysTest Labs. Its Smartmatic Auditable Election System (SAES) 1800 Precinct Tabulator, which will be deployed in over 70,000 precincts for election day, was certified as “over 99.99999%” accurate. “But the certification comes from SysTest Labs, possibly in accordance with the shoddy procedures criticized by the US federal government.”[v]

Tinio added that the US federal government subsequently reinstated its accreditation of SysTest Labs in March 2009 after the company made changes in compliance with the NIST’s standards. “SysTest was able to demonstrate through documentation and observations that they have corrected the nonconformities that lead to their suspension.”[vi] These included “major changes” in documentation of test methods, changes in personnel, and training in professional ethics for its staff.

Public source code review needed

Tinio reiterated the need for COMELEC to comply with the poll automation law by allowing interested parties to conduct their own source code review. “ACT TEACHERS Partylist join other parties, concerned citizens’ groups and individuals in denouncing COMELEC’s continuing refusal to comply with the provisions of the poll automation law. With less than 90 days to go before election day, all that it is offering is a sham review, a so-called walk-through of the source code under the supervision of Smartmatic.”

“Given SysTest Lab’s less than sterling track record, its history of unethical conduct partnerships with the clients that it certifies, opening up the source code for public review becomes all the more necessary. This is the only way that the public will be assured of that the Automated Election System will deliver credible results,” concluded Tinio. #

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[i] Letter of US Election Assistance Commission to SysTest Labs, October 29, 2008 and

Letter of National Institute of Standards and Technology to SysTest Labs, October 28, 2008. Available for download at the US Election Assistance Commission website, http://www.eac. gov/program- areas/voting- systems/docs/ eac-notice- of-intent- to-suspend- ltr-systest- final.pdf/ attachment_ download/ file.

[ii] Letter US Election Assistance Commission to SysTest Labs, July 25, 2008, with attached email correspondence between SysTest Labs and ES&S. Available for download at the US Election Assistance Commission website http://www.eac. gov/program- areas/voting- systems/docs/ accreditation- docs-7-22- 08-ltr-to- systest-labs- final.pdf/ attachment_ download/ file.

[iii] Susan Pynchon and Kitty Garber, “ Sarasota ’s Vanished Votes: An Investigation into the Cause of Uncounted Votes in the 2006 Congressional District 13 Race in Sarasota County , Florida .” Florida Fair Elections Coalition, January 2008. Available for download at http://www.floridaf airelections. org/reports/ Vanishing_ Votes.pdf.

[iv] “Electronic Voting Manufacturer Claims Testing Lab's Shoddy Work Wreaked Havoc.” Courthouse News Service, January 23, 2009. http://www.courthou senews.com/ 2009/01/23/ Electronic_ Voting_Manufactu rer_Claims_ Testing_Lab_ s_Shoddy_ Work_Wreaked_ Havoc.htm.

[v] “Technical Sheet SAES 1800 Precinct Tabulator.” http://www.smartmat ic.com/fileadmin /users/docs/ SAES/SAES1800_ technicalsheet_ v2.0.pdf. This states that the SAES 1800 is “tested to stringent accuracy levels of U.S. Federal 2005 VVSG Vol 1 and Vol 2 by Systest Labs, a certified federal testing lab.”

[vi] Letter of National Institute of Standards and Technology to SysTest Labs, February 26, 2009 at http://vote. nist.gov/ NVLAP/NVLAP- ReinstatingSysTe stAccreditation. htm; “EAC lifts suspension of SysTest’s accreditation,” http://www.eac. gov/blog- postings/ eac-accepts- systest-lab.