MANILA - Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday called for the expulsion of the Makabayan bloc from the House of Representatives for "lying" about her local government's supposed failure to grant allowances to teachers.

The Davao chapter of ACT Teachers party-list, a member of the Makabayan bloc, recently claimed that Duterte-Carpio's turf is the only major city in the country that does not supplement the salaries of public school teachers with allowances.

The mayor said the Davao City government gave P2,000 worth of gift checks to every teaching and non-teaching employee of the Department of Education in Davao since December 2016.

“We have copies of the budget, pictures of distribution and the liquidation with all signatures. Pahirapan pa nga magpa approve ng grant ninyo at kami pa ang nasa alanganin and you have the temerity to lie,” she said in an Instagram post.

"So, ACT Teachers Davao, hindi lang kayo terorista at sympathizer ng mga terorista, you are also LIARS," the mayor added.

(ACT Teacher Davao, you are not only terrorists and sympathizers of terrorists, you are also liars.)

Congress, she said, "should expel the members of Makabayan bloc, the Partylist system is the milking cow of terrorists."

She said the DepEd "should dismiss terrorists from their ranks," saying it was ironic for government to use taxpayers' money to pay "people who work against the government."

In response, partly-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said Duterte-Carpio's statement branding their party as "terrorists" puts their lives in danger.

"This is intimidation and harassment, and it endangers our teachers. We know that there are cases where those branded as terrorists become victims of arbitrary arrest, extra-judicial killing and so forth," he said.

He also accused Duterte-Carpio of stifling dissent, a goal supposedly shared by the military when it accused the critics of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, of plotting to remove him from office this month.

• Duterte faces 'Red October' ouster plot - military officials

“Kay Mayor Sara Duterte, ang panawagan natin ay irespeto ang karapatan ng mga guro na ipaglaban ang kanilang kagalingan. 'Di sila dapat takutin, [bagkus ay dapat] pakinggan at salubungin ang demand for local allowance dahil alam natin ang kakayahan ng Davao City,” he said.

(We ask Mayor Sara Duterte to respect the rights of our teachers fighting for their expertise. They should not be intimidated. Instead, the government should hear and meet their demands for local allowance because we know what Davao City can give.)

Citing data from ACT, he also maintained that Davao City does not give regular allowances to its teachers.

The party it is willing to talk with Duterte-Carpio about coming up with a "win-win solution" to legalize local allowances for teachers.

"We apologize if the post she is reacting to sounded offensive to her. It was never our intention to offend as it is only based on facts. Madam Mayor, we are willing to sit with you to clarify our side. We are not your enemy," it said in a Facebook post.

It also told Duterte-Carpio that name-calling against its organization "does not help in resolving the economic problems faced by teachers."

Report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News