DepEd exec confirms NPA recruitment of students in NorMin

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 21, 2019): DepEd exec confirms NPA recruitment of students in NorMin

An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) 10 (Northern Mindanao) confirmed on Tuesday intelligence reports that some schools in the region have been infiltrated by members of the New People’s Army (NPA), who were allegedly recruiting students into the terrorist rebel movement.

DepEd-10 information officer Ramon Abrera Jr. said they have received information that some students had been persuaded by the NPA to join its ranks.

“Reports indicate that they (NPA) have recruited some students,” Abrera said, although he did not divulge additional details on the supposed recruitment activities.

He added, however, that NPA recruitment usually takes place in schools located in hinterland villages.

Abrera said DepEd is closely coordinating with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) to conduct information dissemination, especially on campuses where the NPA has been actively conducting recruitment activities.

In a previous interview, Brig. Gen. Rafael Santiago Jr., the region's top police official, bared that the Maoist guerrillas have been luring students in some schools in Northern Mindanao to become NPA combatants.

Abrera said DepEd responded to reports of NPA recruitment activities by launching last month its "Last Mile Schools Program", aimed at addressing “the gaps in resources and facilities of schools that are located in geographically-isolated and disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas.”

According to the DepEd website, “last mile schools” refer to those that have less than four classrooms, usually makeshift and nonstandard ones; no fund for repairs or new construction projects in the past four years; and a travel distance of more than one hour away from the center, and accessible only through difficult terrain.

“Likewise, these are schools with multi-grade classes, with less than five teachers, and a population of fewer than 100 learners, more than 75 percent of whom are indigenous peoples (IP),” it added.

In a recent press conference, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said that while the department is “aggressively building schools and classrooms, and providing them with furniture and equipment, there are still schools that have not met the allocation criteria for various education inputs.”

Through Memorandum 59, series of 2019, DepEd has urged all government agencies to jointly plan and implement programs, projects, and activities to expedite the delivery of the needed services in schools in remote areas.

The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078295