Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 10) — The Department of Education (DepEd) has suspended the teacher who allegedly slapped a grade 5 student at Peñafrancia Elementary School in Antipolo City 11 days before he died due to brain edema.
The Education department confirmed the 90-day suspension on Tuesday. DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said details cannot be disclosed as the administrative investigation is ongoing.
The DepEd found in the initial probe that the teacher violated the agency’s Child Protection Policy, the Anti-Child Abuse Law and the Family Code, educators’ group Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said.
The teacher reportedly pulled grade 5 student Francis Gumikib’s hair and slapped him near the neck when he was reporting about his noisy classmates.
Gumikib was found to have internal bleeding in his brain, which caused him to go into a coma before he died on Oct. 2.
The Antipolo police earlier said they are waiting for the autopsy report and gathering testimonies before filing a homicide complaint against the teacher.
READ: Homicide case eyed vs. teacher accused of slapping Grade 5 student who
The TDC urged the public to do away with jumping to conclusions and wait for the final result of the investigation. They also said they will not tolerate any of their colleagues who abuse students as it will reduce their profession’s honor.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun earlier said the details in Gumikib’s death certificate are “vague” because the underlying cause of the death — an important detail — was left blank. It failed to explain where the edema came from.
Aside from trauma, edema can also be caused by a rare condition called meningoencephalitis, she added.
