It was last Friday, November 13, when a Department of Education (DepEd) module went viral after some netizens discovered that actress Angel Locsin was described therein as "obese."
The author of the module was a teacher named Keith Richard Firme from a school in Occidental Mindoro.
After it went viral, DepEd Mimaropa Region issued a statement, saying how the learning material was not part of their “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 competencies of the learning area," they said.
"We would like to express our sincerest apology to the concerned individuals who may have been offended or harmed by this incident," they added.
"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," they went on.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT This has reference with the post circulating on social media involving the DepEd Schools Division of...
Posted by DepEd Tayo Occidental Mindoro on Friday, November 13, 2020
The viral module, which was slammed by netizens, asked what will happen if Angel continues her lifestyle as an "obese" person and who continues to eat "fatty and sweet food."
On her social media accounts, the Kapamilya star responded to DepEd's statement, saying she does not mind the insults thrown at her, with cheap comments not defining who she is.
However, she was troubled by the statement issued by the educational government agency.
"What bothers me most is apart from teaching incorrect grammar to students, DepEd seems unaffected that the said teacher is teaching bad conduct and sowing discrimination among children," Angel said. "Anong mangyayare sa future kung ang mga kabataan ay tinuturuan ng pambabastos at pangungutya sa kapwa?"
That, according to Angel, is the more relevant issue the agency should be looking at, saying that millions of children are relying on their hope.
"The said teacher should apologize to his students and all the students that read the module," she said.
"I am fortunate that I had teachers who value good manners and right conduct," she went on. "Every child deserves to have teachers like them."
