PH police monitoring orgs in public universities for alleged links to communists 

Forget parties and booze, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is now keeping an eye on student organizations in some public schools for more serious allegations.

The PNP said in a press conference yesterday that they are now monitoring schools that allegedly have links to communist rebels. Police said this while presenting a former rebel surrenderee who alleged that leftist groups have started recruiting students in public colleges and universities, GMA News reported.

“We have a project to monitor schools … there are groups, front organizations of leftists that encourage them to join [the armed struggle],” Chief Superintendent Edward Carranza, director of the Calabarzon regional police office told reporters in Filipino, GMA News reported.

The Philippine Star reported that students are invited to visit Kalayaan, Laguna for an immersion program then are “intimidated” to join the rebellion.

Communist rebels claimed that students from the University of the Philippines and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines regularly visit areas in Barangay (Village) San Antonio in Kalayaan, Laguna to provide provisions to terrorists associated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, Carranza said, according to the Philippine Star.

According to GMA News, police said that the students were being hired as lookouts in the mountains.

“They are recruited … They go to [the students’] homes and are encouraged [to join]. If they’re women, they are courted until they fall for it,” the unnamed former rebel said in Filipino, according to GMA News.

“If they (students) don’t agree, that’s when they resort to coercion.”

This is not the first time Philippine schools were linked to alleged rebel movements. In October, the military released a list of 18 private and public institutions where communists were allegedly recruiting students for a movement to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

The PNP was also under fire earlier this month after news broke that they have been profiling teachers who are part of the militant teacher’s union Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).