DECEIVED. Alias Kent, 19, is provided with first aid by government soldiers after being abandoned by his New People's Army colleagues following an encounter in Santiago town, Agusan del Norte Saturday (Nov. 2, 2019)). Kent said he was only 17 when the communist rebels recruited him. (Photo courtesy of Army’s 29IB)
BUTUAN CITY -- The chief of the Army's 402nd Brigade based in this city has denounced the communist rebel movement's continuing recruitment of minors.
Col. Maurito L. Licudine issued the rebuke against the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army (CPP-NPA), following the capture of a 19-year-old combatant after a 15-minute firefight in Barangay San Isidro, Santiago town, Agusan del Norte last Saturday.
The NPA combatant, identified only as “Kent,” told military authorities he was recruited into the NPA when he was 17.
Troopers of the Army's 29th Infantry Battalion (29IB) said Kent was wounded and abandoned by his colleagues, and was immediately provided with first aid and rushed to a hospital for treatment.
Originally from Negros Oriental, Kent told military authorities he agreed to be assigned in Agusan area after being promised good pay "from the collections they would get from the mining firms.”
“I was only 17 when they recruited me. But before I joined them, they already visited me several times and made me participate during lectures. I came from a poor family in Negros Oriental and I longed to earn something for my family," Kent was quoted as saying.
Licudine said Kent was “another addition to the proof that the CNTs recruit minors and have blatantly disregarded the International Humanitarian Law.”
CNT is a military term for "Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army Terrorists."
“While parents are working very hard to send their children to schools and raise them well, the CNTs take them away and make them as revolutionary fighters arming them with hatred against the government,” Licudine added.
Licudine pointed out that the recruitment of minors remains a violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“We deplore this unending IHL violation of the CNTs using children to advance their lost cause,” the Army official said.
He called on parents in Caraga Region "to regularly monitor their children. “Do not allow them to be recruited (by CNTs). Let’s join hands and together we can prevent our youth from wasting their lives.”
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
