'NO' TO NPA RECRUITMENT. Students of the University of Antique try on military gear during Friday’s (Oct. 11, 2019) celebration of the Local Government Code Month in Antique. The Philippine Army warned students not to get recruited by the New People’s Army. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The Philippine Army (PA) is warning students against being recruited by the New People’s Army (NPA), which is reportedly penetrating various schools in Antique the province of.
“Students should be aware that the only legal recruitment is with the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Army Civil-Military Operations Officer of the 61st Infantry Battalion, 1Lt. Hazel Joy M. Durotan, said in an interview Friday.
San Jose de Buenavista Police chief, Lt. Col. Mark Darroca, said in a separate interview that they have intelligence reports that the rebels are targeting students as recruits.
Darroca said students of the Antique National School in San Jose de Buenavista and the University of Antique in Sibalom were among the targets, hence the increased police visibility in these schools.
He also said that the encounter that happened in Barangay Atabay in San Jose de Buenavista last year, where seven NPA officials were killed, is proof that the NPA rebels are after more educated individuals.
He cited the background of the NPA officials, some of whom were artists and former students.
San Jose de Buenavista Mayor Elmer Untaran said parents should closely monitor their children’s activities “so they would immediately know when there is something wrong, like when their children are harshly talking back.”
He also said that students are supposed to concentrate on their studies because their parents have high hopes for them to graduate.
Untaran, Darroca, and Durotan were at the University of Antique for the celebration of Local Government Code Month. (PNA)
