THE Police Regional Office (PRO)-Cordillera is contemplating on filing illegal trafficking of minors against alleged communist front organizations in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) following the surrender of three rebels.
Police Brigadier General R'win Pagka-linawan, PRO-Cordillera director, said Monday that they will use the statement of former rebels recruited as minors to the New People's Army (NPA).
"These front organizations take advantage of these individuals, which is why we will be filing cases against them like the Cordillera People's Alliance (CPA) because they are the ones who entice and recruit," Pagkalinawan said.
He added that the testimonies of the former rebels who were recruited at a young age will be used against the alleged communist front organization for violation of the International Humanitarian Laws.
"This is one of the cases that we will file against these front organizations for them to stop taking advantage of the youth whom they will provide free education when in fact, they are being taught to fight, take arms and fight the government. This is why we continue to emphasize to our youth not to be taken advantaged off by front organizations that recruit the youth in the Cordillera," he said.
According to Ka Benjie, one of the rebels who surrendered, he was recruited to join the NPA in 2007 by the CPA when he was in third year high school. He became a political instructor of KLG Marco, which is operating in Mountain Province and Kalinga, particularly in Sagada, Bontoc, Sadanga, and Tinglayan.
From a red fighter, Ka Benjie laid low and became a youth organizer in their locality, recruiting youth to become red fighters. He decided to return to the fold of the law upon realizing the menace of indoctrinating the youth with communist ideology and to pursue a quiet life in Tabuk City.
Ka Alice, meanwhile, was enticed by the Mountain Province Youth Alliance during the midst of her studies at the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College in 2018, resulting in her losing her dream to become a police officer.
She joined the armed revolution and served as assistant medic and logistic officer under Platoon Anvil, KLG Ampis, which is operating in the tri-boundaries of Mountain Province, Ilocos Sur and Abra.
Pagkalinawan said that based on the testimony of these former rebels, they were made to believe that they are fighting for a good cause from when they were recruited to become members of the left-leaning groups until they become NPA members fighting against the government.
He said through the efforts of the government, the former rebels realized that they were fighting for the wrong cause and eventually surrendered back to the folds of the law through the Whole-of-Nation Approach to End Local Communist Armed Conflict program of the government. (With a report from PIA-Cordillera)