Inspiring the youth is one thing. Urging them toward armed struggle is terror grooming.

February 12, 2026

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict takes serious note of the recent speech delivered by Julieta de Lima before the League of Filipino Students during its 21st National Congress.

Let us be clear: activism is not the issue. Debate is not the issue. Criticism of government is not the issue.

What concerns us is the open call to strengthen recruitment and ideological consolidation in support of a movement that has long pursued armed revolution against the democratic State.

The speech did not merely discuss social issues. It affirmed the framework of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, encouraged intensified recruitment in campuses, and situated student organizing within the broader structure of the Communist Party, the New People’s Army, and their allied networks.

These are not abstract ideas. They are part of a decades-old revolutionary strategy that has drawn thousands of young Filipinos into armed conflict, many of whom paid with their futures, and some with their lives.

The insurgency does not begin in the mountains. It often begins in classrooms.

Former rebels have consistently testified that recruitment starts with study circles, ideological seminars, and gradual conditioning. What appears to be ordinary student organizing can become a structured pipeline toward underground participation.

We are especially concerned by reports of organized recruitment targets, formation of “squads” of prospective members, and systematic campus expansion efforts. That is not spontaneous activism. That is deliberate cadre-building.

Let us also be equally clear: the government does not criminalize belief. The Constitution protects freedom of thought and expression.

But when organized efforts are directed at strengthening structures linked to an armed movement responsible for decades of violence, extortion, and exploitation, the State has a duty to act, especially to protect the youth.

The Filipino youth deserve opportunities, not indoctrination.

They deserve education, not exploitation.

They deserve a future built in peace, not promised through armed struggle.

We call on parents, educators, school administrators, and student leaders to remain vigilant. Campuses must remain spaces for critical thinking and democratic engagement, not recruitment grounds for revolutionary war.

NTF-ELCAC remains committed to peace through a whole-of-nation approach anchored on unity, development, reconciliation, and respect for human rights.

The strength of our democracy lies in reform, not revolution through violence.

Let us guide the energy of our youth toward building our nation, not burning it.

Usec. Ernesto C. Torres Jr.

Executive Director, NTF‑ELCAC