Rody clarifies threat to bomb lumad schools

President Duterte clarified that his threat to bomb tribal schools was not meant to kill students but to actually save them from brainwashing on misplaced communist ideology.

“Hindi ko sinabi patayin ko iyong mga bata (I did not say that I would kill children). Far from it actually. Librehin ko ang bata sa (I will free the children from) perdition ninyo because they will learn to be pareho sa inyo (like you),” he said the other night.

Duterte explained that he told the lumads to get out of the schools that would be bombed when they are already empty.

He ordered a crackdown on schools that operate without a license from the Department of Education (DepEd).

Duterte said the law dictates that schools could only open if they have the necessary clearances from government.

He expressed concern that there are reports that some schools are being used as fronts for certain groups out to spread socialist and communist views to raise children that hate the government.

In a press briefing last Monday after he delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte condemned the communist New People’s Army for destroying bridges and torching schools in the provinces.

He said the insurgents were not targeting lumad schools, which were operating under the rebel group without government permits.

“Get out of there, I’m telling the lumads now. I’ll have those bombed, including your structures,” Duterte said. “I will use the Armed Forces, the Philippine Air Force. I’ll really have those bombed ... because you are operating illegally and you are teaching the children to rebel against government.”

Armed Forces spokesman Gen. Restituto Padilla explained yesterday that Duterte was just “strongly communicating a position in behalf of the government to warn these illegal educational centers who are not complying with government regulation.”

DepEd warns schools

Education Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday warned that schools catering to indigenous peoples in Mindanao would be closed if they fail to secure necessary permits from the government.

In an interview with radio dzRH, Briones said there are at least three lumad schools operating without permits from the DepEd.