Social media personality “Macoy Dubs” joined other educators who called out controversial writer-director Darryl Yap of VinCentiments who is one of the people behind a video aiming to portray a student’s perspective on the upcoming online classes.
The video, which was under the direction of Vincent Asis and the script written by Yap, was part of the “Online Class” trilogy under the “Kung Pwede Lang” videos where a character fantasizes about what could’ve happened if he shared his unfiltered thoughts on a matter.
The trilogy involves three videos—the “parents’ rant, teachers’ rant” and the “students’ rant.”
The “students’ rant” was the most recent of the videos uploaded which featured a student’s supposed take on the coming online classes.
The almost 10-minute clip featured a student who was supposed to deliver a report to her teacher and fellow classmates but during her reporting, she experienced environmental distractions such as her mom’s chore requests, a noisy electric fan and loud neighbors.
The teacher prods her to continue delivering the report but the student launches in a tirade airing her sentiments on high tuition fees despite the shift to online education and how some houses are not conducive to online learning.
The video on Facebook has gone viral with more than 500,000 reactions, 53,000 comments and 230,000 shares on the social networking site.
It has also reached more than 400,000 views on YouTube.
However, some educators and aspiring educators called out the video for its portrayal of teachers and how it laid the blame on them despite adjusting to the new setup as well.
Content creator “Macoy Dubs,” whose real name is Mark Averilla, shared an open tweet directed to Yap airing his side as a college teacher in Colegio de San Juan Letran, his alma mater.
“Bilang guro sa kolehiyo gusto ko lang rin iparating sa’yo na parehas kami ng mga estudiante kong hirap sa set-up na ‘to. ‘Di naman lahat ng taga-Letran, mayaman. ‘Di gusto ng mga guro na matigil ang pagkatuto ng mga bata. Sana gets mo ‘yun?” he wrote.
“Sana ay makuha mo na hindi magulang, hindi pamantasan / paaralan at lalong hindi ang (estudiyante) ang kalaban rito; kundi ang pandemic na ‘to. Sana gets mo rin na wala naman may gusto nito. Pero sana MAS gets mo ‘yung term na SACRIFICE and COMPROMISE—mga bagay na wala sa videos mo,” Averilla added.
Averilla, apart from being a content creator, is also a special lecturer at Letran’s Institute of Communication.
Student councils of education courses also denounced VinCentiments’ video and aired their side as future educators of the country.
The University of Santo Tomas’ College of Education Student Council said that the video was “utterly aggravating and cold-hearted” to the plight of teachers who also have to go through the same adjustments as their students.
“The video is a blatant attack on all hardworking teachers in the academe and is being arrogant towards the true struggles of teachers and the students. The video fails to recognize that teachers and administrators have been to countless webinars and training these past months to ensure quality learning in this new normal,” it said.
The official statement of the UST College of Education Student Council on the video entitled "Online Class" by VinCentiments pic.twitter.com/PtqwxGinWu
— UST College of Education Student Council (@UST_CESC) August 9, 2020
The University of the Philippines’ College of Education Student Council also urged the creators of the video to remove it from the platform “as soon as possible.”
“The video also antagonizes teachers by portraying them as harsh and ignorant to the concerns of students. This is a direct insult to educators whose efforts, for the past months, are directed towards adjusting syllabi, curricula, modules, and lesson plans in order to ensure the delivery of quality and compassionate education amidst the pandemic,” it said.
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCERS OF VinCentiments' “ONLINE CLASS” EPISODEToday, the role of teachers…
Posted by UP College of Education Student Council on Saturday, August 8, 2020
Both student councils also called the attention of the Department of Education to take necessary steps and protect teachers from “public shaming and humiliation.”
UST CESC likewise urged the Commission on Higher Education to “take decisive actions to put an end to teacher-shaming” following the video.
Academicians and topnotchers of the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) also called out VinCentiments’ video and told them to “be part of the solution” instead of promoting “negativity.”
“First of all, teachers are implementers of any educational program. You are barking at the wrong tree if you blame them. Second, no one is prepared for this pandemic. Teaching during pandemic was never part of any teacher education curriculum,” the Top the LET Online Academy said.
It added that teachers have been attending webinars to equip themselves with tools and strategies “as early as April,” which was usually a period of summer break.
“Some teachers even availed bank loans just to buy a laptop capable of synchronous online teaching,” the group said.
This is a screenshot from the recent video posted by VinCentiments. You can watch the full video here:…
Posted by Top the LET Online Academy on Friday, August 7, 2020
Journalist and educator Danilo Arao said that the video “should be criticized” as it supposedly failed to “analyze the roots of the problem.”
“It only blames an inconsiderate teacher as it portrays a cantankerous student as the know-it-all problem solver. This is not how to push for an academic freeze,” he tweeted.
CAPSULE REVIEW: That short film about online class should be criticized. Failing to analyze the roots of the problem, it only blames an inconsiderate teacher as it portrays a cantankerous student as the know-it-all problem solver. This is not how to push for an academic freeze.
— Danilo Arao (@dannyarao) August 9, 2020
Classes will officially start on August 24 despite President Rodrigo Duterte signing a law in July that allowed the adjustment of school openings amid a state of emergency.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that teaching methods for this school year would include online learning and learning through radio, television and printed modules despite calls to initiate “academic freeze” and postpone classes for the meantime.
Several students have been asking for cash donations to fund gadgets they will need as the school year opens this month under the “#PisoParaSaLaptop” initiative.
‘Sa totoo lang’
Yap in a now-deleted Facebook post addressed the educators’ sentiments and told them that they shouldn’t be in the profession if they cannot handle such criticisms.
A Twitter user was able to take a screengrab of his post and share it on the microblogging platform where the former likewise condemned the “public shaming” done to teachers.
“Basta ako, wala naging teacher na iyakin. Lahat ng naging teacher ko—matibay ang loob, hindi nanunumbat ng tungkulin at pinaghihirapan; at hindi umaaray kung hindi natatamaan. Huwag ka mag-teacher kung makitid ang utak mo, kung manipis ang balat mo, at kung hindi mo kayang tanggapin na bahagi ka man o hindi—may mali sa sistema,” Yap wrote.
VinCentiments also released a statement on its page and called it the “official” statement of the controversial writer-director.
Yap stood by the video’s message and said that it only meant to portray the supposed real and unfiltered thoughts of a student on online learning.
“Sa totoo lang: Wala pong nagsasabing hindi bastos ang content na ito; Opo, ito po ay naglalaman ng mapanakit na biro at salita— dahil yun ang totoong reaksyon ng nakararami na pinapahalagahan ng VinCentiments,” he said.
“Kung nasaktan po kayo sa mga salita, iyon po ay bahagi ng mas malalim na paumanhin. Sa totoo lang: Ito ay isang platform para mas mapagusapan ang isyu nang mas malawakan; Sa totoo lang: this opened the floodgates para mag-alsa ang mga apektado, direkta man o hindi. Maaaring laban sa akin, sa ngayon. Pero laban talaga sa sistema dapat,” Yap added.
Yap previously drew flak for downplaying the consequences of incest in a digital series and appearing to promote child rape and pedophilia on Twitter.
He likewise earned criticisms for a short film that was accused of perpetuating rape myths in a country where child rape is still a problem.
