Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday cautioned the Department of Education against using its confidential funds for surveillance operations on teachers and learners in a bid to stop alleged recruitment attempts of the New People’s Army in public schools.
Hontiveros noted that Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte herself admitted during the Senate’s budget deliberations Tuesday that “learners, and our teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel” could be included in their surveillance operation.
“This raises a lot of alarming questions. Who were collecting and conducting surveillance in schools?” Hontiveros said.
“Keeping our children safe includes keeping them away from the potential abuse associated with state surveillance. Students should not become targets of surveillance aimed against abusers and criminals,” the senator added.
Hontiveros said there should be greater transparency on the scope and extent of these surveillance operations, especially as they are poised to infringe on the special protections and rights held by children.
“I reiterate my call to reallocate the DepEd’s proposed confidential budget of P150 million, which is larger than the proposed P101 million confidential budget of the Department of National Defense,” Hontiveros said.
“DepEd [should] focus on fulfilling its basic mandate of providing accessible, equitable, and quality basic education,” she added.
On Tuesday, DepEd spokesman Undersecretary Michael Poa said the department’s list of 16 public high schools in Metro Manila allegedly targeted by NPA recruitment has been vetted by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Poa still refused to identify the schools, citing “the sensitive nature of the issue” but claimed all their information had been cleared with NICA.
“We have no specific information at the moment as to when these activities started. As mentioned, this is an ongoing operation and we are getting as much info as we can,” Poa said.
Poa earlier cited the alleged NPA recruitment in 16 Metro Manila schools to justify the department’s P150 million confidential fund request.
Poa said 12 percent of the rebels who surrendered from 2016 to 2022 were minors, aged 12 to 17 years old.
Aside from the insurgency problem, Poa also told the Senate that over 5,000 minors were also discovered to have been involved in drug-related activities from July 2022 to July 2023.