It’s hard to rest easy when you know communist front organisations are on the prowl for fresh blood in the Philippines’ school campuses. According to testimonies in a recent Senate hearing, much of this recruitment happens outside of that tony circle of elite chi chi schools like the Ateneo de Manila and the De La Salle schools. It seems, these two schools have somehow remained relatively immune to the communist infestation ravaging other institutions of learning. One wonders if there is something about security guidelines in those two schools that sets them apart from all the rest.
Why, for example, is there no Anakbayan chapter at the Ateneo? Interestingly, enough, there is one operating at the De La Salle University. Does this mean the Ateneo, on account of not having an Anakbayan infestation, is even more chi chi than DLSU? On Facebook, Anakbayan DLSU calls itself Anakbayan Vito Cruz — perhaps to assert coverage of its operatives over both DLSU and St Scholastica’s College (a school known, not surprisingly, for its militant student body) on the other side of Taft Avenue.
Could it be that parents of Ateneans exert more pressure on school administrators to ensure their kids are safe from communist recruitment? Note this chilling excerpt from the About page of Anakbayan Vito Cruz describing their organisation as being “open to all Filipino youths (ages 13-35 yrs. old) as long as they are willing to actively uphold the Program of the Organization.”
From thirteen years old. It seems Anakbayan include minors in their recruitment operations. These are then expected to “uphold the Program of the Organization”. Nowhere in its About page (as of this writing) does it require parental consent when it comes to its regard for minors. Chilling indeed. Kudos to the exceptional foresight of the administration of the Ateneo for locating its campus far away from the epicentre of militantism at Manila’s “University Belt” and, seemingly, applying strict guidelines around the types of organisations allowed to operate within it.
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