Police arrest lumad students and their teachers in Cebu City
Central Visayas Police, with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), entered the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus (USC), and took at least 26 Lumad students and teachers into their custody on Monday, February 15.
The police called it a "rescue operation."
The operation took place at around 11:30 am at the university’s retreat house where the IP (indigenous people) took residence in makeshift educational centers known as Lumad Bakwit Schools since March of last year.
A video posted by Save Our Schools Network shows children staying at USC screaming as police forcefully take them away.
It was initially reported that 25 individuals were arrested in the raid, including two teachers and a community elder (datu). However, the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) Cebu Chapter, who are representing the detained individuals, clarified that a total of 26 Lumad students, teachers, and elders were detained in the arrest.
According to the local police, the 19 minors who were detained were released to the custody of the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) office. The 7 adults, meanwhile, were detained at the Central Visayas police headquarters.
The NUPL told reporters they have not been able to to check on the welfare of the minors at the CSWD.
Among those arrested was University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Chad Booc.
News courtesy of Rappler. Read more: