THE Department of Education yesterday doubled down on its claim that 16 public high schools in the National Capital Region are involved in the recruitment of the communist New People’s Army.
Education Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Tan Poa first made the claim last Monday during the agency’s 2024 budget hearing in the Senate. Poa, however, did not identify the 16 schools.
Sought for additional details on the issue, Poa said the information was vetted by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
“We cannot give the names of the schools due to the sensitive nature of the issue. The information was vetted by NICA,” he said.
Asked when the alleged recruitment activities started and if the office of Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte had informed the DepEd-NCR office or the officials of the schools themselves, Poa declined to provide details, saying this is an “ongoing operation” on the matter.
“We have no specific information at the moment as to when these activities started. This is an ongoing operation and we are getting as much information as we can,” he said.
“We will provide you with the relevant details when we get them, for as long as it will not interfere with operations to put a stop to these activities,” he added.
Poa said the DepEd is addressing the issue with relevant law enforcement agencies by crafting awareness programs for the students.
Without identifying the schools, Poa on Monday talked about the age bracket of those being targeted by the NPA for recruitment.
He said 12 percent of NPA members who surrendered to security forces from 2016 to 2022 were aged 12 to 17, while 5,000 minors were found to have been involved in illegal drug activities in a one-year period, from July 2022 to July this year.
Earlier, Duterte justified asking for P150 million in confidential and intelligence funds to stem the alleged recruitment by the rebels of minors and to prevent learners from getting involved in illegal drugs and other illegal activities.
Duterte also urged parents and guardians to force their children to attend school, saying it could help them not to get recruited by terrorists and rebel groups.
Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) national president Benjo Basas belied the DepEd’s claim, saying they have yet to monitor such activity in schools.
Basas said he found it hard to believe that teachers would allow such recruitment activities and remain mum on the issue.
He said by being vague on the information, the DepEd placed schools in NCR at risk.
“We understand that some information is confidential because it concerns security. But all high schools in the NCR can be a suspected NPA recruitment school because of that statement,’ Basas added.
