The Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) named three students from Davao region and nearby areas who were allegedly recruited to join the New People’s Army.
In his statement, Maj. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., the EastMinCom chief, said that one student was killed in an encounter in Laguna last week.
“They always do deceptive recruitment in the guise of organizing a legitimate student organization and our schools and students in Eastern Mindanao are not exempted,” Santos said.
Unwittingly, he said these students are being agitated and, eventually, being required to undergo immersion in the armed group before their eventual integration into the NPA.
The EastMinCom chief said we have history in Davao Region that NPAs recruited students in their rank, such as Alvin Luque who was a student of Ateneo de Davao and now leading the NPA group in Northeastern Mindanao; Ryan Edpan Cagula, a UP Mindanao student who was killed in an encounter in Maasim, Sarangani on Nov. 4, 2014; and Prince Wendel Olorfenes, the NPA leader who was responsible for the attack on the Mati Police Station on Feb. 14, 2015, was a student of University of Mindanao.
Addressing the problem entails the collaboration between the government agencies and other stakeholders, including school administrators and parents.
“We, therefore, appeal to the parents, and to the schools’ officials to be mindful of the whereabouts, activities (of the kids), and the organizations that your students or children are joining as an initial and primary step to save our students and children from the deceptive NPA recruitment,” he said.
