The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) - Leyte Provincial Information Center, in collaboration with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), has expanded its campaign to provide accurate information as a weapon against the proliferation of extremist ideologies at the grassroots level. 

NICA leads the Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management (SAKM) clusters, while the PIA leads the Strategic Communications cluster of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC).

Selected school paper advisers of the Department of Education Leyte Division have been oriented on the salient features of Executive Order No. 70, or the whole-of-nation approach, to attain inclusive and sustainable peace to end local communist armed conflict.

This also includes deceptive recruitment, a friend's rescue testimony, a brief background of the Bagong Pilipinas campaign, and the PIA's campaign to combat fake news.

An eye-opening statement

Eustacio V. Bacabac, the Regional Director of NICA, has stated that some external groups, specifically the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People's Army, and the National Democratic Front, are trying to exert an undesirable influence on students and campus journalists. This could have serious implications and should be taken seriously.

“Napakarami na po ang winasak ng mga kinabukasan ng ating mga mag-aaral. Huwag naman po nating hayaan wasakin ang lahat ng ating magagandang ipinunla sa ating mga mag-aaral ng anumang di kanais-nais na impluwensya nang Communist Terrorist Groups,” Bacabac said.

(So many of our students' futures have already been destroyed. Let us not allow all the beautiful seeds we have planted in our students to be destroyed by any undesirable influence of Communist Terrorist Groups.)

He added that teachers are essential agents of change for students and society as partners in their formation and education.

He declared, “Let us not allow the powerful tool of education to go astray into the wrong hands, deceptive schemes of vested interests of Communist Terrorist Groups (CTG) and its forefronts."

Ways forward

The participants expressed their wholehearted support by signing the pledge of commitment, which symbolized their unwavering dedication to the campaign's cause.

They also elected officers who will represent the first batch of information volunteers. These three representatives will help easily organize related activities and efficiently disseminate vital information to their partner agencies.

Aiene Mercolita-Molina, who is a Master Teacher III at Sta. Fe National High School and the newly-elected president of the Information Volunteers' Group shared that they plan to include this topic in their Catch Up Fridays.

They also plan to organize an information forum at the school level with community involvement and other stakeholders to help intensify the campaign.

By forging strong collaborations with stakeholders like the education sector, we can amplify the reach of government initiatives and promote positive narratives, thereby safeguarding communities against the influence of false claims and communist terrorist activities. (AAC, PIA Leyte)