A photo by Human Rights Watch shows a military detachment set up inside a school
An organization that provides support to children in situations of armed conflict has accused the military of “occupying” a tribal school in Compostela Valley and harassing members of the community.
The accusation leveled by the Children’s Rehabilitation Center against the Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion came a day after Kabataan party-list Representative Terry Ridon sought a congressional inquiry into a Department of Education memorandum that he said allows the military access to public schools and would be “inimical to the protection of children’s rights.”
A statement released by the CRC Thursday said troops of the 25th IB led by Lieutenant Heroben Romare occupied the Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center, Inc. located in Purok 4-B, Barangay Mangayon in Compostela town from January 25 to 28, or from Saturday to Tuesday.
Quoting a report from its Southern Mindanao regional office, the CRC said the troops turned the school into an encampment and disrupting classes despite the insistence of school personnel and members of the community that this was against STTICLCI policy.
CRC executive director Jacquiline Ruiz also said many community members stopped tending their farms after the soldiers harassed residents and subjected several to interrogation.
She added this was not the first time troops from the battalion had terrorized the school and the community.
Last year, she said, more than a hundred soldiers set up camp near the school, arresting four students, three of them minors, who were interrogated and forced to act as guides.
“The students also experienced physical and mental torture as they were threatened to be killed by their captors,” Ruiz said.
She said the heighted militarization of the area “is believed to be related to the ongoing preparation for mining exploration of Agusan Petroleum and Minerals Corporation.”
Ridon, announcing that he had filed House Resolution No. 725 seeking the probe into DepEd Memorandum 221, worried that the edict issued by Secretary Ermin Luistro would lead to situations such as that in STTICLCI.
The DepEd memo was issued in response to Armed Forces of the Philippines Letter Directive 25, which lays down the guidelines for military activities in schools and hospitals.
(Click here to read both DepEd Memorandum 221 and AFP Letter Directive 25)
Before the AFP directive was issued, there had been several complaints by both local and international organizations about military units occupying and turning schools into camps in violation of international humanitarian law.
Complaints have also been rife about soldiers using school symposiums to vilify organizations and individuals accused of being “enemies of the state,” many of whom later end up victims of abuses such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
Although both the DepEd and AFP memorandums purport to limit the activities allowed in schools to civil-military operations, Ridon nevertheless said, “Allowing military presence in educational institutions is tantamount to increasing risks for children, especially those living in situations of conflict."
He also noted loopholes in both memos that could pave the way for abuses.
Ridon cited Guideline No. 7 of the AFP directive, which says: "If there is a need for the force protection unit(s)/personnel to be inside the school, due to exigencies of the prevailing security situation and/or activity and/or request, they must be deployed and limited/contained to the pre-identified/pre-approved within the school/hospital premises."
"The said provision is unclear on who determines the presence of the 'need for force protection units,' which is the AFP's euphemism for armed soldiers and is thus open for abusive interpretation," the lawmaker said.
He added that the AFP directive also "justifies and legitimizes military surveillance in schools," by requiring the photo and video documentation of any activity.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/79765/child-rights-group-slams-afp-occupation-of-compostela-valley-school
The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) is a suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organization that exploits issues related to welfare of children. It is difficult to determine the veracity of CRC allegations against the military due to the organization's past use of misinformation/disinformation in support of its anti-government/anti-military propaganda efforts.
ReplyDeleteIt seems more than coincidental that CRC allegations against the military in the Compostela Valley area, a hotbed of New People's Army (NPA) insurgent activity, surface at the same time that Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan (Youth) party-list political party is attempting to sponsor a Congressional inquiry into a Department of Education memorandum that grants the military access to local schools.
The Philippine military often conducts information activities in local schools to instill a sense of patriotism among students and indoctrinate them against potential recruitment efforts by the Maoist NPA. This is the real rationale behind CRC and Kabataan efforts to discredit the Philippine military and to circumscribe military access to schools/students at local level.