Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has called on guidance counselors in schools to identify students who might be vulnerable to recruitment by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“Based on what former NPA recruiters have revealed…you school guidance counselors should be skilled profilers. Profile your students,” Dela Rosa stated during a Senate committee hearing on public order and dangerous drugs, which addressed the ongoing issue of student recruitment by communist groups.
Dela Rosa emphasized that NPA recruiters often target intelligent but quiet and disaffected students, particularly from universities like the University of the Philippines (UP). “If you see a smart, quiet student, who seems discontented with the world, they are very easy to recruit into becoming extremists and bearing arms with the NPA,” he noted.
The senator highlighted the presence of NPA recruiters on campuses, observing and targeting students who are “ripe for the picking.”
At the same hearing, Nellie Jo Aujero-Regalado, head of the legal office at UP Visayas, expressed concern about the red-tagging of their students. She reported incidents of harassment and discrimination, where UP students are labeled as terrorists or communists.
“Some of our students are blocked and questioned while commuting between campuses. This is a major problem for us, and we want to protect our students from such harassment and red-tagging,” Regalado explained.
Dela Rosa acknowledged the issue, saying, “It’s unfortunate for students who are just trying to study, only to face such harassment. It’s a difficult situation.”
The Supreme Court recently ruled that red-tagging and similar acts threaten an individual’s right to life, liberty, or security.
In the same session, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that 168 students had been recruited into communist-terrorist groups from 2014 to 2024. Pol. Col. Randy Arceo of the PNP Directorate for Operations disclosed that 123 of these students were recruited from colleges and universities, 34 from high schools, and 11 from elementary schools. Among these, 33 students died in police operations, 42 were arrested, and 93 surrendered.
The schools with the highest recruitment numbers, according to PNP, include Putian National High School in Cuartero, Capiz, followed by UP Diliman, PUP Manila, UP Manila, and UP Tacloban.