A teacher is facing investigation for “insinuating a potential child abuse action” in a TikTok video that went viral and criticized online.
The Department of Education on Friday said Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones ordered a probe into the video of the unnamed teacher and “mete him with appropriate sanctions”.
“The Department of Education (DepEd), as an institution trusted to protect the rights of every Filipino learner, does not tolerate any forms of abuse towards children,” DepEd said in a statement released on Friday.
The teacher who goes by the username @leobondoclopez on TikTok, posted a video of him winking and dancing to apparently get the attention of a “cute student” passing by.
“Pag dumaan yung cute na student mo. Tamang pa-cute lang,” read the text on the teacher’s video.
The said video, captioned “For fun lang po”, is now currently available after the teacher set his account to private.
DepEd, meanwhile, also reminded teachers and non-teaching personnel to “always subject our words and actions, including our social media activities, to the highest degree of ethical and professional standards.”
“As teachers and public servants, we must always champion a safe and nurturing learning environment for children, where physical, verbal, sexual and other forms of abuse and discrimination are renounced,” it added.