ILOILO – West Visayas State University’s (WVSU) request for the deployment of Philippine Army (PA) soldiers at its College of Agriculture and Forestry (CAF) campus in Lambunao town was not spurred by the alleged New People’s Army (NPA) recruitment of students, clarified its president, Dr. Luis Sorolla Jr.
“We requested for military assistance because of an incident that happened in CAF. Our guardhouse and administration building were attacked by illegal settlers. They had weapons and firearms,” according to Sorolla.
For his part, Peter Ernie Paris, dean and campus administrator of WVSU-CAF, said illegal settlers harassed the WVSU-CAF’s security unit. This may have been prompted by the school security personnel’s telling the illegal settlers off, he added.
“But the issue was addressed already,” Paris said, adding that there was no damage after the harassment.
Paris denied the Philippine Army 3rd Infantry Division’s (3ID) claim that the request for deployment was to address the problem of students holding rallies.
“There were no rallies, particularly expressing opposition to the administration,” he said.
Paris said their verbal request for Army deployment was made in June before the classes resumed early this month.
The assistance from the Army was sought to ensure the safety of the students, he said.
Paris presented the situation of the school during a consultative meeting with the Philippine Army.
A few days after the consultative meeting, a representative of the Army spoke to Paris regarding the request.
“The incident (harassment perpetrated by illegal settlers) was still fresh, and I presented the scenario. I said that if such a threat will continue, then we will ask for the Army’s assistance,” he said.
He noted that there is a Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) detachment at the WVSU-CAF’s 3,400-hectare school reservation.
Paris also clarified that WVSU respects student organizations, such as the student council and interest groups.
“We do not curtail the freedom of students to organize as long as it is within the bounds of the law,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sorolla assured that the WVSU administration has yet to monitor any NPA recruitment of its students. “So far, we do not have a problem with that,” he said.
The WVSU has campuses in Iloilo City and in the towns of Janiuay, Calinog and Pototan. (PNA)
