The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) strongly supports the call of Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson for schools to be more vigilant in monitoring their students amidst allegations that “recruitment” to join the insurgency movement is happening on campuses.
UNIFED President Manuel Lamata said on Saturday, May 23, that the presence of student leaders in the Toboso encounter is evidence enough that the insurgency group has a strong presence in academic institutions.
“Sadly, many of them are even ‘iskolar ng bayan,’ attending top-notch, government-funded universities,” Lamata said in a press statement.
It is also incumbent upon the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod to investigate how one of their supposed student leaders ended up getting tagged as a member of the rebel movement, he added.
“How many more young lives will be extinguished because of distorted beliefs? We do not want our children to be involved in any terrorist activities,” Lamata said.
He said recruitment in schools is not surprising and has been happening for decades.
“I think it is incumbent upon our academic institutions to strongly advocate among the students that there are democratic ways to air their grievances instead of being sympathetic to, or worse, joining the rebel movement, which has been denounced not only locally, but internationally, as a terrorist group,” he said.
Lamata said he hopes the governor’s call to school administrators will be regarded as a priority agenda as the new school year is about to start.
“Let us strongly remind our youth that we, Negrenses, are for peace and this is the only ideology that should be advocated in our schools,” he said.*
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