LOOK: Lumad youths denounce martial law, alleged NPA recruitments
Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — At least 50 members and leaders of Lumad youth groups staged a protest on Monday to condemn the martial law rule in Mindanao and allegations of rampant recruitment of communist rebels in their area.
The protesters, who were from different cause-oriented groups, brought placards outside the south gate of the House of Representatives and demanded the government to respect their rights to ancestral lands and stop attacks against Lumads.
Members of the Save Our Schools (SOS) Network also disputed claims of rampant recruitment by the New People’s Army (NPA) in their areas.
Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net
Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net
Meggie Nolasco, the Community Executive Director in one of the alternative schools in Mindanao, asserted that the children are being given basic education and not misleading information that would lead them into joining the communist rebellion.
“No recruitment by the NPA of indigenous peoples are happening in alternative learning schools. Lumad children go to these alternative learning schools to learn how to read, write, and to know their basic rights,” Nolasco said in a statement. /je
Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net
Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net
