DAVAO CITY – The military has vehemently denied reports that it harassed a charity boarding school that hosts students from indigenous peoples’ (IPs) community in Maco, Davao de Oro.
2Lt. Kim Carlos, civil-military operations officer of the 71st Infantry Battalion (7IB), told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview on Wednesday clarified that none of their personnel has even set foot inside the Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM).
"No military unit came or visited the said school. You cannot come in without prior coordination with the school officials,” Carlos said.
The Army officer was responding to the allegations of CTCSM junior high school coordinator Noel Caso that their school was under "attack" by the military.
“We have information that the parents of our students from different municipalities in Davao de Oro were summoned by the barangay officials or by the military. They were called for a meeting to ‘rescue’ and pull out our students in the school,” Caso said in a statement on Tuesday.
Caso claimed that the move is part of the supposed move of the Regional Peace and Order Council-11 (RPOC-11) to shut down IP schools or any learning institution that hosts students from the tribes.
Caso did not offer evidence to substantiate his claims.
Refuting Caso's allegations, Carlos said what the school official may have been referring to was the invitation extended by local officials to the parents of IP learners enrolled at the CTCSM.
Carlos said the local officials coordinated with the 71IB to check on the status of the IP students following reports of abuse inside the school.
“These students were enticed to enroll with a promise that they will be free from the school obligations. When they are already inside the school premises there were reports that they cannot easily go out and go home to their families,” he added.
He also pointed out several reports that the children have not been given proper nutrition inside the school.
The parents, he said, had accepted the invitation on their own will.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Ezra Balagtey, Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesperson, also expressed surprise on Caso's allegations.
“I don’t know their definition of under attack. If the information dissemination is already an attack, it’s a different thing. As far as we are concerned, we are adherent to the International Humanitarian Law and the respect of human rights,” Balagtey said.
“There is no harassment,” he added.
Jenielito Atillo, spokesperson of Department of Education in Davao Region, also denied receiving reports of any harassment against CTCSM.
“We have people on the ground and we don’t receive reports that the military abused the students or officials in the said school,” he said.
Atillo said CTCSM is currently applying for license renewal from DepEd, which he said is under the "evaluation.” he added.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1096324
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