Madrigal seeks dialogue on recruitment of students

BAGUIO CITY: Armed Forces chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. wants a dialogue with officials of the Commission on Higher Education ( CHEd), the Department of Education ( DepEd) and members of the academe to tackle the recruitment of students by the communist movement.

Madrigal said he was saddened by the death of a veterinary medicine student from the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, one of those killed in an encounter between soldiers and communist rebels at the boundary of Quezon and Laguna last week.

“It is right for students to exercise their academic freedom but let us remind them there is a limit to being a revolutionary and of course, having sense of nationalism,” he told reporters.

A member of the New People’s Army

The Southern Luzon Command confirmed that a student, identified as John Carlo Capistrano Alberto, was killed. He allegedly joined the NPA in January.

was killed in an encounter between communist rebels and soldiers.

In 2017, Josephine Lapira, an alleged member of the Gabriela party-list, was killed in an encounter with troops in Nasugbu, Batangas.

Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, military spokesman, appealed to parents and joining rebel organizations.

should be aware of the students’ whereabouts, and what groups they had joined.

“The CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA terrorists continue to lurk in our schools and communities spy number of their cadres,” Arevalo said in a statement.

“Be on the lookout. Report the presence of these unscrupulous individuals to your AFP and allow us to save your children and students,” he added.