Rights and church groups in the Philippines have condemned a police raid on a Catholic university during which 25 teachers and young students were taken into custody.
Police say the raid at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City on Feb. 15 was a “rescue operation” to save students undergoing training as “future terrorists.” According to reports, those detained included seven adults and 19 minors. The raid took place at a retreat house on the university’s campus that indigenous people known as Lumads had turned into an educational center. The Lumads are often accused by the government of being members of the outlawed Communist Party, whose armed wing has led a decades-old insurgency.Police said they received reports that students were being held captive and indoctrinated for terrorist purposes. “These students detained … were being housed in the Catholic school’s grounds to undergo revolutionary training as future armed combatants,” police said.
The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) congregation that runs the university hit back by saying the teachers and students were part of a Catholic Church education program. “They were at the SVD-owned retreat house … to complete their modular schooling on April 3, 2020, after which they would have returned to their respective indigenous communities,” the congregation said in a statement.
They were staying on campus due to pandemic restrictions in the province, the statement added.
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Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
