ILOILO CITY — The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is in support of the proposed Senate investigation on the alleged recruitment of communist terrorist groups (CTGs) in schools and universities.
"We acknowledge the fact that the CTGs through their various front organizations conduct recruitment in our schools, colleges, and universities," the PRO-6 said in a statement, citing the series of killings perpetuated by the CTGs on the youth and students.
During the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on August 6, the Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed that 102 educational institutions in the country have active rebel recruitment activities.
In Western Visayas, the PNP identified the West Visayas State University-Calinog Campus (WVSU) in Iloilo and Puti-an National High School (PNHS) in Cuartero, Capiz, as active recruitment grounds for the New People's Army (NPA).
The PNP said recruitment activities have been going on at the two institutions since 2014.
"The revelations at the Senate investigation are an eye opener to all of us. It asks us to take a proactive step to protect our students, and our youth from exploitation, deception, and manipulation schemes by the CTG front groups," the PRO-6 said.
Meanwhile, Puti-an Barangay Captain Nemecio Fuyunan said the "inclusion of PNHS as a recruitment ground for the CPP-NPA is fake news."
He asserted that the list presented by the PNP during the Senate hearing has no basis.
Fuyunan, also the former principal of PNHS from 1988 to 2013, said he never received any reports about rebel recruitment at the school.
The PRO-6 also clarified that there are no recorded activities of CTG recruitment in the school and in the town of Cuartero since it had been cleared of CTG presence in 2019 due to the dismantling of the Eastern Front of the Komiteng Rehiyon Panay.
The NPA front has a bailiwick at Barangay Putian and the neighboring towns of Cuartero.
"Cuartero has been a recipient of various projects under the Barangay Development Program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict," the PRO-6 added.
WVSU Calinog Campus Administrator Dr. Rosario Clarabel Contreras also denied the PNP's allegations.
"Our security team is vigilant, and our Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps conducts yearly security awareness programs about insurgent recruitment in coordination with authorized government agencies," she said in a statement.
After the list was released, Contreras said they immediately conducted a thorough internal investigation and found no evidence of NPA recruitment or insurgency in the institution.
Lt. Col. Jay-J Javines, spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division, also clarified that they have not received any reports or monitored any CTG recruitment activities in the campus.
He said the PNP's data date back to 2014 and may have included the campus based on previous records.
Javines said they have instructed the 301st Infantry Brigade and the 12th Infantry Battalion to verify the information to prepare the school against any rebel recruitment activities.
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