Human rights and activist groups raised alarm over a police “rescue operation” of tribal students from a Church-run university in the central Philippines on Monday, February 15.
Media reports said authorities conducted the “rescue operation” after the children’s parents sought police help to recover the children from alleged “rebel recruiters.”
Police Gen. Ronnie Montejo, police regional director in Central Visayas, said the operation was done after six parents and the government of Davao del Norte province sought the help of Cebu officials.
“Their children were taken by the members of the Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanugon (Community Learning Center Inc.) without their knowledge and consent,” claimed the general.
“They are victims of indoctrination and recruitment by the community terrorist group and exploitation of the Salugpongan as they were used during protest rallies against the government,” he added.
Human rights group Karapatan, however, questioned the conduct of the “rescue operation.”
“What kind of rescue operation involved force and coercion by uniformed elements like the [police],” read a statement from Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
She claimed that the students were victims of “forced evacuation amid military and paramilitary operations” in tribal communities in Talaingod town, Davao del Norte province.
She said the students were “obviously in distress as they were forced out of the Lumad school in Cebu, despite and even with the presence of their parents.”
The Student Christian Movement of the Philippines also condemned the incident, describing it as a “blatant disregard on human rights and democratic aspirations” by the tribal people.
The group Save Our Schools Network claimed that 21 students —15 minors and six adults — were taken away in the “rescue operation,” along with two teachers and two elders.
The network posted a live stream of the “rescue operation” showing children screaming in a classroom as they were forced out by men in uniform.
“Their parents were supposedly forced and fetched out of their community in Davao del Norte by the military and the local government to justify this blatant attack,” read the Save our Schools network statement.
The government has been accusing schools run by indigenous peoples in the southern region of Mindanao of recruiting and training communist rebels.
Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Brandi Usana said the operation “can be a big blow to the deceptive and devious handiwork of the [Communist Terrorist Group] members found recruiting minors as future armed combatants.”
The police officer said the tribal children have been missing for two years after being “trafficked from Davao del Norte to Cebu Province.”
He also claimed that tribal elders and parents “actually joined the police when they raided [the University of San Carlos] Retreat House.”
The “rescue operation” was participated by officers of the police’s Women’s and Protection Desk, representatives of the municipal government of Talaingod, the provincial government of Davao del Norte, and Cebu City’s Social Welfare Office.
Datu Benito Bayaw, one of those taken by the police after a brief scuffle, said the children arrived in Cebu last year after tribal schools in their area closed by the military.
Meanwhile, the Society of the Divine Word congregation, which runs the University of San Carlos, said hosting the tribal students is part of the “Bakwit School Project” of the Archdiocese of Cebu with the Save Our Schools Network.
The religious congregation said the 42 students were also accompanied by five teachers and three community elders when they arrived in Cebu where they stayed in four educational institutions.
“The delegation was supposed to complete their modular schooling on April 3, 2020, after which they would have returned to their respective indigenous communities,” read the statement.
When the city was placed under strict community quarantine on March 13, 2020, the children were forced to extend their stay.
In the statement, the religious congregation said it was “surprised” by the police “rescue.”
