Private schools group joins anti-Red task force

Metro Manila, Philippines – A private school group will be part of the controversial anti-insurgency task force, an official said on Friday, Nov. 8.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Ernesto Torres, National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive director, said the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) was designated as part of the task force’s executive committee.

Torres said the group, composed of 1,500 private schools, will help in the campaign against what it called “terror grooming” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front.

“There will be a broader base for the information awareness campaign of the government to know the truth about the designated groups, designated terrorist organizations and personalities so they would have an informed choice as to whether or not join certain organizations,” said Torres.

“It is actually our constitutional mandate to serve and protect the Filipino people, to include the students. And part of really protecting them is providing them the right information about questionable organizations and personalities for them to protect themselves,” he added.

COCOPEA, which calls itself as the “unifying voice of private education,” has yet to release a statement on the matter.

In a statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers slammed the group’s inclusion in the task force.

It said the move could lead to more surveillance and intimidation of students, teachers, and other school personnel.

NTF-ELCAC has been accused of red-tagging critics, including youth and student groups. Human rights organizations and some opposition lawmakers had long called on to abolish the task force.

“This is a dangerous development that follows the same playbook of red-tagging promoted by the NTF-ELCAC. It is now trying to legitimize its witch-hunting operations by co-opting private educational institutions through COCOPEA,” Antonio Tinio, former ACT Teachers party-list representative, said.