Dela Rosa derided for claiming youth groups brainwashed by reds

Youth organization leaders warned Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and the Philippine National Police (PNP) against dismissing the youth as mere unthinking automatons brainwashed by communists, asserting that young people could decide for themselves whether or not to reject President Rodrigo Duterte's policies.

"Hindi ho bulag ang kabataan. Hindi ho kami walang utak na hindi makapag-decide kung ano ang mali sa ating lipunan. Hindi kami uto-uto. Hindi ho tama na maliitin kami, na brainwashed po kami," said National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) National President Raoul Manuel.

"Dine-demonize po ang youth activism gayong ito po ay pagtindig para sa karapatan sa edukasyon, karapatan ng manggagawa, karapatan ng magsasaka. Nag-iiba po talaga ang isip ng mga kabataan na hindi katulad ng ginagawa ng Presidente at nila Bato na puro patayan at pandarahas," chimed Anakbayan spokesperson Alex Danday.

Other youth leaders, for their part, pointed out that criticizing the government was not a crime, and neither did it make them bad sons or daughters.

It was thus wrong of dela Rosa to attempt to use their convictions to drive a wedge between parents and their children.

"Who is Senator Bato dela Rosa to reunite families in the first place? He led the war on drugs which killed at least 54 people under 18 years old. He sees them as collateral damage. Ang sabi pa niya doon sa mga namatay sa police operations, 'Shit happens,'" recounted College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Daryl Angelo Baybado.

"Wala pong na brainwash sa amin. Mayroon po kaming sariling pag-unawa at pag-iisip na tumindig sa kung ano ang tama at sa prinsipyo namin batay na rin sa magandang pagpapalaki ng aming mga magulang," added League of Filipino Students (LFS) national spokesperson Kara Taggaoa, LFS.

The youth leaders vowed that they would remain unfazed despite of dela Rosa's threats.

"Just because we are criticizing the government, we are being dismissed as being brainwashed, and this is a cause for concern. Ngayon, kahit sinong may puna sa gobyerno ay sasabihing brainwashed na pwede arestuhin, ikulong at patayin. We are not afraid to stand up against the trampling of human rights and trampling of our democracy," Hen Namoca of One Big Fight for Human Rights and Democracy said.

Dela Rosa, during a Senate hearing, claimed that communists were brainwashing and recruiting recruits from the ranks of youth activists.

It was during that Senate hearing that three mothers of youth activists said that their children were missing. But at least one of the supposedly missing youth activist disputed this on her social media account and claimed that she was safe. — DVM, GMA News