The National Security Council (NSC) defended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision on Monday to include the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
During a Malacañang press briefing on Friday, NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. announced that COCOPEA was appointed as one of two private sector representatives in the task force at the 6th NTF-ELCAC Executive Committee Meeting, which was presided over by the President.
NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya explained that the President’s intention was to ensure that schools remain safe from “terror-groomers” and similar elements that recruit students to join armed struggles or instigate violence against the government.
“Schools are supposed to be safe spaces for learning and free expression and should be free from violence, extremism, or radicalization at all times. Students are there to learn and contribute meaningfully to society. That is why the President approved COCOPEA’s inclusion as a partner institution of NTF-ELCAC,” he stated.
Malaya emphasized that the President’s message is clear: “Our colleges, universities, and schools are not recruitment centers for extremism and violent movements. There is no place in our schools for violence, radicalization, or extremism.”
He further noted that criticisms suggesting COCOPEA’s membership in NTF-ELCAC constitutes a serious encroachment on academic freedom or could lead to repression of critical thought are unfounded and speculative.
“Academic freedom, which consists of the ‘four essential freedoms’ of a university—determining who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught, and who may be admitted to study—is guaranteed under the 1987 Constitution. It boggles the mind how this is realistically threatened by COCOPEA’s mere admission into NTF-ELCAC,” he remarked.
Malaya reminded critics that NTF-ELCAC, established under Executive Order No. 70, promotes a “whole of society” approach for achieving inclusive and sustainable peace.
The NSC also highlighted that NTF-ELCAC aims to facilitate societal inclusivity and ensure active participation from all sectors of society in pursuing the country’s peace agenda.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) Directorate for Operations reported to the Senate Committee on Public Order that approximately 168 students groomed and subsequently recruited into the New People’s Army (NPA) between 2014 and now have either been killed in battle (33), arrested (42), or surrendered (93).
