Student leaders urged to be proactive vs. communist insurgency

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 20, 2022): Student leaders urged to be proactive vs. communist insurgency (By Mary Judaline Partlow)

PEACE ENGAGEMENT. Brig. Gen. Leonardo Peña, commander of the Philippine Army's 302nd Infantry Brigade; Lt. Col. Roderick Salayo, 11th Infantry Battalion commanding officer; and Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental Vice Mayor Karl Patrick Jardiniano (from left) are in a huddle after a local peace engagement in Tamlang Valley on Dec. 16, 2022. The brigade commander has cautioned student leaders and parents to be wary of CPP-NPA recruitment on campuses. (Photo by Judy Flores Partlow)

DUMAGUETE CITY – A ranking Philippine Army official in Negros Oriental has cautioned student leaders against the possible recruitment of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in their respective campuses.

Brig. Gen. Leonardo Peña, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army based in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, said some young people with “links” to the CPP-NPA have enrolled as scholars in a university.

Peña declined to mention the name of the school but he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview on Tuesday that it is in one of the campuses north of the province.

He said the schools must pay attention to the activities of their students because there is an unnoticed entry of these individuals to the campuses.

“Their main objective is to recruit, so it is much better that faculty members, the Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education must be observant and vigilant with what is taking place in their schools,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Peña said students are encouraged to join campus-based organizations because it helps them become mature in their thinking but parents and guardians must also constantly check on their children and their activities on and off campus.

He disclosed that a video clip recovered by government troops from one of the encounters with rebels showed that the CPP-NPA had a chat group with students although he declined to elaborate.

“We have to protect the lives of these young people who we always say are the country’s future leaders and the hope of the nation,” Peña said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1191156