NTF-ELCAC taps student council
By Renelle L. Escuadro
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) tapped different government agencies in Caraga to safeguard the youth and students against communist terrorist group (CTG) recruitment at all levels of the learning institutions by creating and activating the Student Crime Prevention Committee (SCPC).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was recently signed between the Caraga regional offices of Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Education (DepEd), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) at Camp Col. Rafael C. Rodriguez in Butuan City to solidify this endeavor.
Caraga region as the pilot of this initiative emphasized the vital role of the SCPC in addressing and preventing crime and CTG recruitment of youth and students in the region.
With more rebels coming out and returning to the government, the weakened leadership of the CTG has tried to rebuild and fill out its lost comrades through massive and deceptive recruitment targeting the youth and students as vulnerable prey.
Student Crime Prevention Committee
The creation and activation of the Student Crime Prevention Committee found an anchor in CHED Memorandum Order No. 42, series of 2005. Further, to brace the committee, it will be composed of the supreme student council (SSC) president as the chairperson, the SSC vice president as the vice chairperson, SSC secretary for documentation and records keeping, members who are presidents or vice presidents of the student governments of secondary and senior high schools, and officers from all college-level courses.
Moreover, to ensure rightful guidance and conscious supervision on the said committee, a board of advisers shall also be created with the school president or principal as chairperson, the chief of police as vice chairperson, and allied by the SSC adviser, the punong barangay where the school is located, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) president, and a representative of the interfaith sector to be designated by the school head.
Pulis ko, Teacher ko
As stipulated in the MOU, Police Regional Office 13 takes the lead in conducting lectures or seminar workshops on crime prevention and criminal justice, counter-terrorism awareness, drug awareness, and community involvement on the school campuses.
Through the PNP program, dubbed “Pulis ko, Teacher ko,” the police officers in the region, who are at the same time licensed teachers, will conduct advocacy campaigns with students on how to enhance their moral foundation and strengthen resistance to CTG recruitment and other crimes.
“We need to protect our students, as they are the most vulnerable sector targeted by the CTG for recruitment. We have a solemn responsibility to protect and guide them away from the clutches of such organizations and ensure they have the opportunity to grow in a safe environment,” said Caraga PNP regional director, PBGen. Kirby John Kraft.
This milestone is an offshoot and development of the Caraga Higher Education Institution Caravan 2023 that was conducted in the entire region through a blended environment and that received full participation and engagement of the higher education learners, especially the young leaders of the different campus SSCs, as materialized by the Caraga regional line agencies such as CHED, PNP, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)`, National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA). (RLE/PIA-Caraga)
