SEN. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa has called for a Senate inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the case of missing minors who were allegedly recruited by leftist groups to be part of their activities as members and fighters.SEN. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.
Dela Rosa has introduced Resolution 38, asking the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, which he heads, and the Committee on National Security and Defense of Sen. Panfilo Lacson to investigate the matter.
“We really wanted to know the real score behind this issue. An investigation of this case could ferret out the truth and, in the end, we could also recommend actions that will ensure the peace in the country, as well as protect and preserve the welfare of our children,” he said.
On July 23, the senator added, parents of the “victims” visited his office to relay their predicament regarding their respective children.
He said the parents reported incidents of alleged indoctrination and recruitment of their missing children by members of left-leaning organizations.
The parents, according to dela Rosa, said their children, all minors, were purportedly induced to leave and abandon their homes permanently.
One of the parents claimed that his 16-year-old daughter left their home for almost a week for a “leadership training” without their consent. Concerned about the safety of his child, he searched for her and found her in a political rally in Quezon City.
Another parent claimed that her child was convinced to leave their home for three days to attend a seminar in a state university. When the mother checked on her child’s whereabouts, she failed to locate her and found out that there was no seminar being held in the university.
“There was an alarming report that communist terrorists are recruiting minors as their fighters as young as 10 years old. Same news report also claimed that the communist group has been doing this for decades, but their recruitment efforts were intensified now because their armed group have been depleted due to frequent clash with government troops,” dela Rosa explained.
Recent statement by Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año claimed that “the Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples’ Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF) are poisoning the minds of the children to take up arms against the government. They teach the innocent how to use a gun, how to fight in armed combat, how to gain people’s sympathy, to sing a different version of the national anthem and to join rallies calling for the overthrow of government.”
Año further claimed that a 15-year-old child, who was fighting for the NPA, was killed in a clash between government troops and communist rebels.
In efforts to protect the interest and welfare of the children, dela Rosa underscored the urgent need to investigate the disturbing reports of the alleged recruitment of minors as fighters of the CPP/NPA/NDF.
He noted that the allegations against the CPP/NPA/NDF would be detrimental to efforts of the government and concerned groups in achieving lasting peace in the country.
The NDF is an umbrella group, whose members include the CPP and its armed wing, the NPA.
https://www.manilatimes.net/probe-reds-recruitment-of-minors-de-la-rosa/592712/
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