MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday clarified that it has not prescribed any specific colors for the alternate uniform that teachers may use during the dry season. 

This follows a statement from Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-list Rep. France Castro, who reacted on a photo released by DepEd showing some sample collared shirts, including those in white, red and green. 

Castro said it appeared to have "political meaning" since red and green were the UniTeam's campaign colors for the 2022 elections.

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"Wala pong prescribed colors ng DepEd collared shirt. Any existing DepEd collared shirt may be worn. Kahit ano pong DepEd collared shirt na meron na ang ating mga guro na nagamit sa Palaro, Brigada Eskwela, Balik Eskwela and other DepEd activities," DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said in a statement. 

(There are no prescribed colors of the DepEd collared shirt. Any DepEd shirt that our teachers used for DepEd activities will do.)

"Any white collared shirt with DepEd and Matatag logo may be worn as an additional option," he added. Matatag refers to the revised K-12 curriculum.

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Poa stressed that DepEd is just providing options for teachers. 

"Teaching and non-teaching staff may wear any DepEd collared shirt, of any color, that they already have," he said.