The Philippine National Police on Saturday accused former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo and his companions of conducting anti-government indoctrination on Lumad children under the guise of regular elementary or high school education.
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said that the group of Ocampo who were acting as teachers of Lumad children is even teaching their students a different version of the Philippine national anthem.
“They set up a school in the area where they teach Lumad children something that are way different to what should be taught in schools,” said Albayalde.
The military has accused the New People’s Army, through its alleged legal front organizations, of teaching children communist ideologies and other indoctrination that encourages the Lumads to hate the soldiers and the government.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, director of the Southern Mindanao police, said no less than the parents of the children and the tribal leaders in Davao del Norte confirmed the alleged indoctrination of the group of Ocampo.
“There were reports that the children were taught with false ideals at school, far from the mandates of the Department of Education. Also allegedly, these group are using the children to be with them to rally against the government,” said Morales.
The Lumads have been at the center of clashes between the government and communist rebels in the eastern part of Mindanao. Both the government and the NPA have been trading allegations about the deaths of tribal leaders and other tribe members over the years.
Some intelligence officers said the Lumad tribes in Davao and Caraga regions have been the hotbeds of communist rebel recruitment over the years, the reason why the NPA is strong in the eastern part of Mindanao.
As an anti-insurgency strategy in the past, some Lumads were allegedly formed into paramilitary groups to fight recruitment and spread of communist insurgency in their ancestral lands.
This allegedly resulted into the deaths of Lumad tribe leaders and members over the years. (Aaron Recuenco)