By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday urged parents to monitor the activities of their children, especially those which are not sanctioned or approved by their respective schools.
PNP chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde made the reminder as communist rebels use extra-curricular activities to recruit members among unsuspecting students.
“As we usher the summer season with the culmination of the previous school year, I am taking the urgency of raising awareness among parents and school administrators to be mindful of students’ extra-curricular activities that are not sanctioned or approved by school authorities such as off-campus social immersion programs, teach-ins, symposia, social field work and community organization in areas of operation of armed units of the local communist movement,” Albayalde told reporters during the press conference after the Monday’s flag ceremony.
He said some members of militant youth and student organizations are also known to participate in indoctrination and “social immersion” courses in clandestine training camps during school break, without their parents knowing about it.
The country’s top cop said there had been persistent reports of sighting and even active participation of some university students in some insurgent activities, including armed encounters with government security forces.
Albayalde cited the recent arrest of Aljon Tamuyang Cardenas, 18, a student of University of Eastern Philippines in Calbayog City who was among 50 communist terrorists who attacked the Victoria Municipal Police Station in Northern Samar last March 28, 2019.
The attack was allegedly conducted to drumbeat the 50th founding anniversary of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Albayalde said Cardenas was not the only student captured while participating in the activities of the communist groups.
“Cardenas is not the first, and hopefully he would be the last student to fall for the grand communist deception who allowed himself to be used as cannon fodder in this 50-year protracted war of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA that is going nowhere,” Albayalde said.
Albayalde stressed the PNP recognizes academic freedom to promote critical thinking but the moment the militant students take up arms to topple the government, they become enemies of the state and subject to appropriate law enforcement response.
“God forbid but we do not want these unwary students to be along the line of fire when our maneuver forces launch a summer offensive in the CPP-NPA heartland in the coming weeks,” he added.
Albayalde earlier said there is nothing wrong with student activism but it must not reach the point of taking up arms against the government.
Despite the PNP’s hardline stance against the communist terrorists, Albayalde said the PNP continues to extend the government’s grand gesture of peace and reconciliation through peace negotiations with local units of the communist movement under a National Peace Framework pursuant to Executive Order 70.
In a related development, Albayalde also welcomed the 47 members of the communist movement from Laguna, Rizal and Quezon who formally surrendered to the Philippine Army and the PNP-Calabarzon over the weekend.
The former rebels also yielded an arsenal of explosives and 25 high-powered firearms.
Earlier this month, 29 NPA members in Negros Occidental and Iloilo also surrendered to authorities.
“These rebel surrenderers are now free to rebuild their lives and enjoy peace and prosperity with their families and take the opportunity to avail of the government’s amnesty program and livelihood assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP),” Albayalde said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
He said the program features the establishment of halfway houses/receiving facilities where the former rebels are to be welcomed and housed for security measures during the facilitation of their surrender.
E-CLIP was established through the Administrative Order 10 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on April 3, 2018.
