'DepEd turns schools into military barracks'

MANILA, Philippines - A children's rights advocacy group on Saturday claimed the Department of Education (DepEd) has turned schools into military barracks, especially those in remote areas of the country. 

 

Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns alleged that teachers and students also experienced harassment from soldiers who have encamped in schools.  

 

"Schools have never been a zone of peace under the watch of Sec. Armin Luistro. Instead, schools are turned into barracks if not burned or destroyed by the military," the group's secretary general Kharlo Manano said. 

 

Manano, also the lead convenor of the Save our Schools Network, also accused Luistro of  allowing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to enter schools in the course of military operations.

 

"Instead of barring military in schools, he (Luistro) allowed the Armed Forces of the Philippines to use schools in the course of military operations at the expense of students and teachers’ safety and security," Manano said. 

 

He also alleged that the rising incidents of military attacks on schools can be attributed to the DepEd’s issuance of memorandum circular 221, or Guidelines on the Protection of Children During Armed Conflict.

 

The memo contains guidelines for school officials and DepEd supervisors on how to deal with military units entering schools. It adopted the AFP Directive 25 or Guidelines on the Conduct of AFP Activities Inside or Within the Premises of School or Hospital.

 

"While there has been many pronouncements from the department of their commitment to maintain schools as zones of peace in accordance with various laws protecting children, the recent killing of a Lumad educator in Surigao del Sur is a glaring proof that belies DepEd's claim," Manano said. 

 

Last September 1, militiamen belonging to the Magahat-Bagani forces killed Emerito Samarca, executive director of Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) along with two Lumad leaders Dionel Campos and Datu Jovillo Sinzo at Sitio Han-Ayan, Diatogan, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. 

 

Manano reiterated that the DepEd should immediately revoke the DepEd Memo 221 as well as issue a policy that clearly prohibits all forms of military operations inside schools or near schools. 

 

"Lumad schools should be declared as protected institutions free from militarization," he added.