PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday maintained he would continue to “bomb” schools built for the Lumad or tribal minorities in Mindanao, but clarified he never intended to kill the children within them.
“I never said that I will bomb those Lumad schools if there is a person there. That’s why I said, ‘go away.’ I never intended to kill children,” Duterte said in a media interview at Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
“But I will destroy [the schools] because you’re using the schools to destroy the mental health of the children—they’ll go to war hating the government,” he added.
On Monday, Duterte linked several Lumad schools operating without a permit to communist rebels, whom he earlier said deserved to be bullied.
“These schools are teaching subversion, communism, everything. So better stay away from them. I will tell the Lumad there, stay away [from those schools]. I will bomb them. I will include these structures,” he said.
One of the non-government organizations operating schools accused by Duterte of “teaching subversion and communism” on Thursday denied it was operating illegally, and presented certificates of government recognition from the Education Department itself to belie the claims.
“You are claiming that our Lumad schools are illegally operating so you can justify the attacks on our schools and threaten us to bomb our communities,” the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development Inc. which is operating several schools in the Caraga region, said in a Facebook post.
“We suggest you check first with your agencies we’ve coordinated with since time immemorial,” the group added.
During the Aquino administration, several schools built for the Lumad by NGOs, including ALCADEV, an award-winning Lumad school along with Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur and the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. were ordered closed and occupied, triggering protests against the military occupation of schools.
The plight of the Lumad was highlighted after the September 2015 killings of Emerito Samarca, ALCADEV’s head teacher in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, along with two others, Dionel Campos and Juvello Sinzo, allegedly by paramilitary forces.
Three days after Duterte’s threat, the Department of Education still remained mum on the incident—instead telling reporters to refer to Malacañang’s explanation, who sought to justify the President’s threats—saying they were necessary.
“[President Duterte] warns them in the strongest terms to discontinue these actions; persistence will warrant appropriate government action,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Tuesday, saying that the bombings will continue.