Olongapo Teacher Ordered Dismissed from Service for Sexual Abuse

Olongapo Teacher Ordered Dismissed from Service for Sexual Abuse
Francis B. Bermido Jr.

Franco N. Aranas, a teacher of New Cabalan High School, Olongapo City has been found guilty of grave misconduct for sexually abusing three male minors and is ordered dismissed from service by the Regional Director of the Department of Education. In her Decision dated October 7, 2021 Director May B. Eclar of the Department of Education said Franco Aranas “miserably fell short of the standards expected of him as an educator and as a public employee. He has tarnished the noble profession of teaching by committing dastardly acts against the very persons he is charged to educate and care for . . . Such character deserves no place in the teaching profession.”

The three minor-victims all testified during the formal investigation and narrated how Franco N. Aranas groomed and then sexually abused them in two separate incidents in the Sunshine Lodge in Olongapo City. All three said Franco Aranas forced them to have oral and anal sex with him.

In his defense, Aranas said it was impossible for him to have sexually abused the minors because he was at work and he attended a party on said dates. However, the Regional Director rejected his alibi because he failed to prove that it was impossible for him to be at the scene of the crime at the time of its commission.

Aranas did not deny the sexual intercourse with his students but claimed it was consensual because he did not employ physical force or violence upon his victims. But the Regional Director said that his moral ascendancy and influence over the students substituted for threat and intimidation, which made the minors submit to his sexual acts. Also, children are presumed by law to be incapable of giving rational consent to any lascivious act or sexual intercourse.

The administrative case against Franco Aranas was filed in March 2019 by Emmanuel C. Drewery, executive director of the Preda Foundation. Reacting to the DepEd Decision, Mr. Drewery has this to say: “No profession is immune from child abuse. We hope this decision would send a signal that it is not ok for teachers to groom and to have sex with their students. As duty-bearers, it is their paramount responsibility to protect children from harm, and to report and respond if ever they hear of cases of child abuse within or outside the school premises. In fact, it is the responsibility of everyone.”

Aranas is also facing three criminal cases for child abuse and trafficking. Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio of the Olongapo City Family Court ordered his arrest but Aranas posted a cash bond for his provisional liberty. He has since gone back to teaching at New Cabalan High School. The Preda Foundation is hoping the secretary of the DepEd will immediately confirm the decision of the regional directory and make it final and executory.

The 3 male victim-survivors on the other hand, were continuously supported as outreach and aftercare clients of the Preda “Rescue and Action against Child Trafficking”, a project implemented with funding and technical support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through a grant managed by the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines (PDAP).

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