PERHAPS the saddest side story in the “Le Affair Cauayan” controversy is the death of former UP Cebu alumnus and student leader Vince Francis Dingding — one of the five alleged rebels killed in the May 16 clash in Cauayan, Negros Occidental. It is a tragic example of what many describe as “terror grooming.”
His death is another painful reminder of the continuing tragedy caused by the CPP-NPA-NDF recruitment pipeline — a process that allegedly preys on the idealism of young Filipinos, drawing them from advocacy spaces into underground networks and, eventually, armed struggle.
As long as these pseudo-communist groups are allowed to roam freely in universities and school campuses, the kids are not alright.
One of the main sources of recruits for the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) insurgency movement are college and university campuses where, under the guise of “student activism,” impressionable students are groomed and enticed to join leftist organizations such as the League of Filipino Students (LFS), College Editors Guild, and similar groups.
Those believed to have the potential to become armed fighters are eventually brought to training camps in the hinterlands for immersion and indoctrination before becoming full-fledged members of the armed movement. Those who do not make the cut often become the noisy “useful idiots” commonly seen in rallies and protest actions.
What makes the tragedy of Vince Dingding even more poignant is a handwritten letter dated May 18 and signed by both of his parents, Romulo and Rica Dingding. In the letter, they formally appealed that all matters relating to their son’s death be coursed through their barangay captain to spare the family from further distress.
The letter also revealed that Vince’s mother is battling colon cancer and has been strictly advised to avoid stress to aid her healing and recovery.
But perhaps no words captured the family’s grief more painfully than the postscript written at the end of the letter:
“P.S. We decided that we will no longer claim his remains in Negros Occ.”
The tragedy of Vince Dingding is not an isolated case. There are many other naïve college students who have suffered the same fate. Still, not all hope is lost, as a proposed measure pending in the Senate seeks to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
Senate Bill No. 1366, or the Terror Grooming and Radicalization Prevention Act, seeks to stop the radicalization and recruitment of vulnerable Filipinos, especially the youth, into communist groups.
The proposed measure aims to protect Filipinos from radicalization traps, empower communities to reject manipulation, and save lives by disrupting terrorist recruitment operations.
The bill also seeks to curb predatory recruitment schemes that turn hardship into violence, while at the same time empowering communities to reject manipulation and providing justice and rehabilitation for victims — all while safeguarding legitimate dissent.
The measure is currently pending at the committee level. The hope is that senators will eventually have an epiphany, set aside political distractions, and return to the business of legislating meaningful solutions that could prevent more naïve college students from becoming cannon fodder for the CPP-NPA-NDF.
And we segue to this post by Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, currently dean of the Graduate School of Law of San Beda University, which is spot on, to say the least:
“People know the truth, and the pretext that young students were in the hinterlands ‘fighting for the rights of the oppressed’ is easily recognized as circumlocution for ‘having been recruited.’
“Killings will stop when recruitment stops. Killings will stop when the remaining cadres of a bankrupt ideology are left to wither away without fresh blood being infused into what is obviously a lost cause.
“That raised clenched fist is just so passé, so pathetic in its obsolescence — the holdout of a bygone era when student activism was the ‘in’ thing and those who raised their fists in protest were glorified as catalysts of reform. Now, listen to the chants of those who recently took to the streets — an absurd remix of the melodies of the 1970s.”
Indeed, leave them kids alone./PN
