Aklan State University denies alleged recruitment to NPA happening on campus

BANGA, Aklan - The Aklan State University (ASU) denied that recruitment to the New People's Army was happening on campus.

ASU president Dr. Emily Arangote made the denial in a post on social media.

The university was included in the government's list of educational institutions where NPA recruitment was allegedly taking place. The list was done by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Before issuing a statement, ASU talked to the military and NTF-ELCAC to find out how the university was included in the list.

The military said the list was drawn up from information retrieved from subversive documents it recovered from NPA camps.

ASU said it would cooperate with the government.

NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy thanked ASU for its cooperation.

Lieutenant General  Antonio Parlade Jr. of the NTF-ELCAC earlier said NPA recruitment was happening in 18 schools, among them the University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), De La Salle University, and University of Makati, among others.

The UP administration wanted more information about allegations that students were recruited for the communist insurgency.

ADMU, DLSU, FEU and UST objected to Parlade’s claims that the universities were recruiting grounds for communist rebels.

PLM president Emmanuel A. Leyco has described as an "insult" Parlade's claim that the university was a recruiting ground for communist rebels. —Jun N. Aguirre/KG, GMA News