Youth groups: Activists safe but won’t go public due to security threats

The three student activists who have been alleged missing by their parents are safe but are afraid to face the public due to security threats brought about by the Senate hearing on their alleged recruitment to the communist movement, leaders of youth groups said Monday.

The leaders of youth organizations made the disclosure in the aftermath of the testimony of mothers Jovita Antoniano, Relissa Lucena, and Luisa Espina before the Senate Committee on Public Order and Safety claiming that their children are missing, if not, have deserted their parents and abandoned their schooling to become communists.

“Safe po sila, malaya po silang mag-desisyon sa kung ano ang gusto nilang gawin.  Ang isa po sa kanila, si Alicia, nagsalita na po na hindi po siya kinidnap at nire-recruit. Pero ang sabi po sa hearing, kapag nakita sila, kukunin po sila, Siyempre po, andun ang takot na kapag kinuha sila, anong gagawin sa kanila? Lalo na po may long history ng pulis at militar ng pagpatay, pang haharass, pagdukot sa mga aktibista,” Alex Danday, Anakbayan spokesperson, said at a news conference.

Danday did not cite a case, but in September 2018, the Malolos Regional Trial Court convicted retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. and two others guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.

“Nasa mabuti po silang kalagayan, pero hindi po po sila handa na humarap sa publiko, at pinauubaya po namin sa kanila ang desisyon. Gusto po nila makipag-usap po sa magulang po nila, pero dahil po sa threats sa kanilang security, they decided to stay out of the public eye po muna,” Kara Taggaoa, spokesperson for League of Filipino Students, added.

But for College Editors Guild of the Philippines national president Daryl Angelo Baybado, the police’s tagging of youth organizations as kidnappers puts a clear target on student activists, especially with no less than Philippine National Police chief Police General Oscar Albayalde saying that youth groups should identify the location of their orgmates to prove their innocence.

“Ang akusasyon po nila ay kidnapping, na isang continuing crime. Dahil po sa nangyari, kung kumakain po sila rito ngayon, puede po siya damputin ng mga pulis at sabihing “rescue mission” po iyon. ‘Yan po talaga ang threat ngayon,” Baybado pointed out.

Also at the press conference, Danday and Taggaoa turned tables on the authorities, saying that it is them who are brainwashing the parents, not the youth organizations.

“We have reached out to parents to assure them na safe ang kanilang mga anak, merong efforts on our part to reach out. Pero ang ginawa ng PNP, minaximize kung ano man ang nangyayari sa pamilya, binrainwash ang mga magulang. Ginagawang masama sa mata ng mga magulang ang paglilingkod sa bayan,” Danday said.

“Sa totoo lang po, ang may pinakamalaking impluwensiya po sa atin ang ating pamilya dahil doon po tayo nagmula, hindi po kami. Kaya po sa mga magulang po, ipinauubaya po namin sa kanilang mga anak ang pagpapaliwanag ng kanilang saloobin dahil malaya naman po silang magdesisyon,” Taggaoa added. — RSJ, GMA News