MANILA — The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will continue engaging with universities and the academe to educate students on the realities of insurgency and the recruitment of young people, a ranking official said.

“The NTF-ELCAC will never tire in engaging academic institutions with respect and openness, even as passionate students misconstrue or even intentionally misrepresent our intentions. Our shared objective is to ensure that Filipino youth are equipped with truth, critical thinking, and opportunity, not drawn into conflicts that only prolong suffering and division,” said Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., NTF-ELCAC executive director.

Torres stressed that the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA), and associated organizations have historically invested heavily in organizing and recruiting within universities nationwide. “This is not a claim invented out of thin air, as it is a historical reality acknowledged by former members, even by the movement itself. It is not the fault or failing of these schools that a few of their students started as well-intentioned activists later became armed insurgents,” he said.

Many former rebels, now involved in peace-building, reportedly began their political journeys on campuses where armed struggle was romanticized and its human cost downplayed.

Torres called on universities to elevate discourse on insurgency, youth recruitment, and academic freedom, emphasizing that honest debate — rather than propaganda or slogans — is essential for just peace and nation-building. He noted that recent social media debates, sparked by a forum at the University of Santo Tomas last year, highlight tensions between academic freedom and confronting the realities of insurgency.

“Universities have always been spaces where ideas collide. Here, convictions are tested and difficult national questions are debated. Our aim should always be to elevate discourse in ways that promote peace and academic freedom while steering conversations away from propaganda and toward just peace and nation-building,” Torres said.

He added that individuals who speak about insurgency and youth recruitment — particularly former rebels and scholars with firsthand knowledge — should not be automatically dismissed as enemies of academic freedom.

“Many of those who speak candidly about these matters do so precisely because they have witnessed how young lives can be drawn into cycles of violence through ideological manipulation or what can be described as terror grooming,” Torres said.

He also urged that professors and resource persons raising these issues deserve to be heard, even when their views are strongly contested. “Passionate debates are part of university life. But the manner in which we engage each other—whether with respect or dismissal—ultimately determines whether dialogue enlightens or divides,” he added.

(PNA)