Police and social workers in Cebu on Monday took custody of 21 Lumad students and arrested tribal elders and school teachers from their “Bakwit School” in the University of San Carlos Talamban campus, claiming this was a “rescue” from a rebel training school.
The University of the Philippines Mindanao’s Student Council urged its administration to defend its constituents following recent red-tagging incidents against members of the university’s community.
Student groups in Mindanao urged the government to recalibrate its strategies to end the armed conflict through resolving the root causes of armed rebellion: poverty, inequality, corruption, and atrocious governance, instead of sowing fear against dissent.
Former presidents of the Davao City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) issued a statement criticizing the Duterte administration’s counter-insurgency has been reduced to red-tagging of activists, critics and fellow lawyers.
The military claimed they captured two volunteer Lumad school teachers in an encounter with guerrilla forces in Paquibato District, a claim disputed by the Save Our Schools Network as another propaganda spin to discredit Lumad schools.