Justice official urges teachers to respect students' rights after slap leads to death

The Manila Times

Justice official urges teachers to respect students' rights after slap leads to death  Department of Justice (DoJ) Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, who is in charge of child protection, expressed his disappointment over an incident at the Peñafrancia Elementary School where a teacher slapped a Grade 5 student that resulted eventually in his death. He said educators must also respect the rights of their students.   Video and Interview by Ezrah Raya  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes

Transcript

00:00 I'm Ezra Araya, reporting on the hottest issues and the biggest stories.

00:05 This is The Manila Times.

00:06 A grade five student dies after being slapped across the face by his teacher while in school.

00:14 According to reports, 14-year-old Francis J. Gumikib was hit on the side of the head

00:19 by his teacher after reporting his classmates who were being noisy during an exam in Peña

00:25 Francha Elementary School.

00:27 Gumikib told his mother that the teacher pulled his collar and his hair before slapping him.

00:34 After this, he repeatedly complained about severe headaches, as well as pain in his ear

00:39 on September 20.

00:41 He continued to attend classes after the incident.

00:44 And on September 26, he was rushed to the hospital after experiencing dizziness, vomiting,

00:50 and loss of balance.

00:52 Gumikib went into a coma and then passed away eventually on October 2.

00:59 Department of Education Antipolo has formed a team to investigate the incident.

01:03 Meanwhile, the school has placed the teacher on leave.

01:09 Here with us today is Department of Justice Undersecretary Raul Vazquez.

01:14 Welcome to The Manila Times, sir.

01:15 Yusek, one of the offices under your umbrella is Child Protection.

01:20 So what is your reaction to the grade 5 student Francis J. Gumikib who died after being hit

01:26 by his own teacher within school premises?

01:30 Good afternoon, Ezra.

01:34 And it's my pleasure to be your guest in this afternoon, in this interview.

01:41 Regarding that unfortunate incident, it is really deplorable.

01:47 And it's a sad event because supposed to be schools are the second home of our children.

01:55 And in fact, the parents could give or surrender the custody at al-Albaib temporarily to the

02:06 school and to their teachers with the thinking that they would be cared for and protected.

02:14 So that would be the height of irresponsibility and a violation of the trust and confidence.

02:21 And under our concept of law, we have a situation where the parents being the primary guardians,

02:35 when they give custody to the school and to the teachers, effectively the teachers are

02:44 considered as in loco parentis, meaning to say it's as if they are the second parents

02:50 or just like parents.

02:53 So for them to violate that mandate and that authority, it's a sad state.

03:00 Sir, the school, the report said when the parent came to the school, they wouldn't let

03:07 the teacher face the parents.

03:10 So even the school, they still let the teacher live.

03:14 So it's like they are still protecting the teacher.

03:17 So is it allowed what the school is doing?

03:20 Well, their primary responsibility should be the protection of the children.

03:25 So if the school authorities did as what you said they did, then they could be made answerable

03:33 before the Department of Education because of their failure to institute measures by

03:42 which the children under their care would be properly protected and safeguarded from

03:49 any harm or injury.

03:50 Sir, what are the possible cases that can be filed against the teacher, especially

03:56 that it has been reported that the incident caused the injury of the student.

04:04 So he went into a coma and eventually died on Monday.

04:08 So what are the cases that can be filed?

04:11 There are many cases that can be filed, Elra.

04:16 Number one would be homicide in relation to the Child Abuse Act, which means to say that

04:26 there will be a graver penalty than ordinary crime of homicide.

04:31 But there should be an intent to kill.

04:36 So that's a possible aspect.

04:39 I'm not prejudging the case.

04:41 I don't know about the circumstances, but if it was done negligently, then it would

04:49 be reckless imprudence.

04:51 We have a concept that it may not have been intended to cause the harm that was the result.

05:02 In other words, it will be said that there is no intent to kill.

05:06 So at the very least, we have a concept, a principle that is called in Latin, I will

05:12 speak a little bit of Latin.

05:16 La cosa de la cosa es cosa de la mal cosa.

05:19 That's Spanish and it's basically anchored on the Latin precept.

05:26 But the idea there is that you would be liable even if the act that you intended was not

05:35 really that abhorrent or it's not a crime, so as long as an injury resulted from your

05:42 act.

05:43 So that's for the criminal aspect.

05:45 The teacher could also be liable civilly for the damages that may have been incurred.

05:51 So the hospitalization, all incidental damages plus the potential of the child, whatever

06:01 the future, and of course, in the case of his death, there is also a monetary penalty

06:10 for that.

06:11 Thirdly, administratively, he can be liable.

06:17 His teacher can be dismissed from the PRC or he can be charged with other administrative

06:29 charges if the evidence whatsoever.

06:32 So at least criminally, civilly, and administratively, he can be liable for the incident.

06:41 It's a bit tricky, sir, because when he first attacked the child on September 20, the child

06:48 was admitted to the hospital three days after the incident.

06:53 And then he complained about headaches and then was hospitalized and then eventually

06:58 went into a coma and died on October 2.

07:02 So it's indirect, not direct.

07:05 Like you said, even though there was no intent to kill the child, but she is still liable.

07:11 Sir I have a question.

07:13 With the damages you mentioned and the possible revocation of her PRC license, is there a

07:19 jail time for that?

07:21 Yes, there is a jail time if it is shown in the evidence that if there is an intent to

07:27 kill, it is higher.

07:29 But if it is imprudence, because of her negligence, she did not do it on purpose, then the penalty

07:37 is lower.

07:38 But it is still higher because of the child abuse aspect of this violation of RA 7610.

07:49 It is important to consider that it can be an issue in the factual circumstances of the

07:56 case.

07:57 That's why it is necessary for ESRA to have a deep autopsy.

08:03 Here in the Department of Justice, the fiscal authority requires an automatic autopsy in

08:11 cases of suspicious deaths, especially if it is one that involves children, just like

08:18 in this case.

08:19 So they can have an autopsy automatically to find out the real reason for the child's

08:26 death.

08:27 Number one, this is what you said, tricky and complicated.

08:31 You're very right.

08:32 You hit that spot on.

08:34 It's possible that she has an underlying condition.

08:37 If the head is hit, her balance will be affected, it will affect her personality and her sanity.

08:50 There is also the aspect that because of the time that has passed, the defense can say

09:02 that there is no causality.

09:04 That's important in a criminal case.

09:07 The causality, your violation or offense will result in death or injury to the person.

09:19 If there is a discernible or substantial lapsing of time, the cause and effect will be broken.

09:28 It's like a Pavlovian in a criminal case.

09:31 The cause and effect is what you did resulted in death or injury.

09:38 If there is a break there and this break is substantial, that could be a factual issue

09:44 that has to be discussed and extensively studied by the prosecutors and the investigators.

09:54 Sir, lastly, what is your advice to educators in schools in treating their students and

10:01 keeping them safe to ensure that they don't fall again in the future?

10:07 Actually, we don't have to remind them at all because they know their duty.

10:12 As second parents, this concept that I said in loco parentis, as parents, the most important

10:19 thing for them is the well-being of the child.

10:24 Capital punishment is not allowed for children today.

10:28 Even in physical, psychological, emotional, mental, you're not supposed to perform any

10:36 act that would degrade the identity, the humanity of any person, especially a child.

10:45 Because you will not know the effect of what you did to deceive or abuse a child,

10:54 in their thinking, in their personality, in their health, in their well-being.

11:02 So the advice is they have to do their duties as educators, as second parents,

11:10 and as a human being in respecting the rights of vulnerable individuals, especially children.

11:20 That is one thing that they ought to know and they should know.

11:24 And violating that means that they would have to answer to the authorities and to the aggrieved

11:32 parents of any child.

11:34 Sir, there was another instance not so long ago of another student, grade 5 also, female,

11:41 11 years old, who was also raped by a teacher in school.

11:47 So do you think the DepEd must revisit somewhat of a training or an order to the schools about

11:58 these types of incidents?

12:00 Yes, certainly. Because you know, the rape that you're talking about, that is a forceful one.

12:08 Even if you don't have the force to have a relationship with a child who is 12 years or less,

12:15 it is a statutory rape.

12:19 And then if you have a relationship, even if you say it's your girlfriend or what,

12:24 at the very least, it's a qualified seduction.

12:29 There can be many crimes or abuses that can happen in a relationship in an atmosphere of a student and teacher relationship.

12:46 Because there is trust and confidence, there is a control situation.

12:55 That's where the abuse could come in because the child believes what the teacher says.

13:04 Or the child is threatened, they will give you a beating or what.

13:10 There are many situations like that.

13:12 So these situations should be brought to the attention of our authorities, particularly the Department of Education.

13:26 Even the colleges, if you think about the Commission on Higher Education,

13:33 they should really change their perspective and supervise all schools, whether elementary, high school or college.

13:48 Because the trust and confidence that is in their hands and in their hands should be embraced

14:01 and should be done without any reservation.

14:06 Thank you very much for that sir.

14:08 Like you said, the institutions, the DepEd and as well all of the schools basically have to revisit and be more careful when dealing with students.

14:19 Thank you so much Department of Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez. Thank you very much.

14:25 [No audio]

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