Cops raid lumad school in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities raided a makeshift educational center at the University of San Carlos in Talamban, Cebu yesterday to “rescue” lumad youth from what they described as a front of communist terrorist groups.

Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, spokesman for the Philippine National Police, confirmed the incident, which caused an uproar among progressive groups.

The Save Our Schools Network reported that about 25 people including a teacher and three lumad elders were arrested during the raid.

Police said the students were undergoing “some form of warfare training.”

Videos of the raid showed none of the adults were armed.

Police did not report if they seized firearms at the facility. It said 21 of the students who were taken were minors.

The Save Our Schools Network said six of the students were adults.

Several progressive groups denounced the raid, which they said was carried out “under the guise of a rescue operation.”

Videos of the raid showed lumad children screaming.

Usana said tribal leaders and parents of the minors were with the police during the raid, and that the children had been missing for two years.

The Save Our School Network said the parents of the lumad children were “forced and fetched out” of their communities by the police and military to justify the raid.