DepEd to address militarization in schools

MANILA, Philippines - Education Secretary Armin Luistro has committed to exert all efforts to remove military troops stationed in several schools in far-flung provinces, an opposition lawmaker said Tuesday.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said Luistro made the commitment during a dialogue at the Department of Education (DepEd)’s main office in Pasig City.

Present at the dialogue were representatives from the Save Our Schools (SOS) Network, student leaders and tribal leaders who are part of the Manilakbayan, a protest caravan that travelled from Mindanao to Metro Manila to denounce the militarization of their communities.

Luistro said DepEd will make “concrete steps” to address the issue of militarization in schools.

“We are happy to announce to all advocates and campaigners that the DepEd secretary has committed to take immediate action on the reported cases of militarization not just in schools in Mindanao but in other parts of the country as well,” Ridon told members of the caravan outside the DepEd main office.

“The secretary agreed that the presence of military forces in our schools will indeed heighten risks for students and lead to an escalation of children’s rights violations,” he said.

Manilakbayan members and children’s advocates have staged a vigil outside the DepEd since Monday night.

Ridon said the dialogue was the culmination of a year-long campaign against the presence of military troops in several schools, particularly in Mindanao and Northern Luzon. 

The SOS Network informed Luistro that 20 DepEd schools in Mindanao alone have been “attacked” or used by the Armed Forces from 2013 to 2014. There have been 214 reported cases of military attacks on lumad community schools.

‘Assailed memo’

Luistro was told how DepEd Memorandum No. 221 series of 2013 has been used by the Armed Forces to enter schools and day care centers to conduct military operations, Ridon said.

 On Dec. 13, 2013, DepEd released the memo, “Guidelines on the Protection of Children during Armed Conflict,” to school officials and DepEd supervisors on how to deal with requests from military units for entry in schools.

 The lawmaker said the memo adopts Armed Forces of the Philippines Letter Directive No. 25 ,or the “Guidelines in the Conduct of AFP Activities Inside or Within the Premises of a School or a Hospital,” which the AFP released on July 15, 2013.

According to both DepEd Memo 221 and AFP Letter Directive 25, military elements can conduct “civil-military operations” such as public forums, symposiums and medical missions inside schools as long as the activity has the approval of school authorities, Ridon said.

He said Luistro promised to review and possibly withdraw the assailed memo, and replace it with a memorandum that will strictly prohibit military activities in schools and strengthen monitoring of rights violations.

Aside from promising concrete actions to address the concerns of SOS Network and lumad leaders, Luistro expressed support for a congressional probe on the reported militarization of schools, Ridon said.

“The secretary agrees with the principle that military presence in schools is inimical to children’s rights. He even expressed support for the congressional probe on military transgressions committed against school children,” Ridon said.