• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Western Visayas police yesterday issued a statement supporting the ongoing Senate probe on the recruitment of students by legal front organizations of the New People’s Army in schools, colleges, and universities.
In a statement, PBrig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional police director of Western Visayas, said “many lives are wasted, due to these recruitment activities conducted by the communist terrorist group, among our youth and students.”
At the recent hearing of the Senate panel on public order and dangerous drugs, PNP’s Directorate for Operations Colonel Randy Arceo disclosed that Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recruitment activities have been observed in 102 educational institutions nationwide since 2014.
Arceo further disclosed that 23 of the identified schools have more than one recruitment activity.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have accounted [for] a total of 168 militant students who were recruited by the communist terrorist group. As a result of focused military and police operations and law enforcement operations, 36 died during operations, 41 arrested, and 92 others surrendered,” he revealed during the Senate hearing.
Wanky said the revelations at the Senate investigation are an eye opener to all. “It asks us to take a proactive step to protect our students, and our youth from exploitation, deception, and manipulation schemes by the CPP NPA legal front organizations”, he added.
Let us take this information, as our collective motivation, to actively participate in the campaign to protect our youth and students against the local terrorist group recruitment activities, the top WV cop said.
Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, chair of the Senate committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said on Tuesday that recruitment efforts of the NPA became Active again under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.*