NTF-ELCAC argues need for law against ‘terrorist grooming’

THE National Task Force to End Local ommunist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is pushing for the passage of law that would protect children and the youth from the “terror-grooming” of the various front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) operating inside school grounds and campuses.

In a statement in the aftermath of the June 22 mass school shooting inside the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City (see relat6d article here), NTFE-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto ‘Jun’ Torres said the public must be alerted on the need to protect children “from the normalization of violence.”

Referring to the shooting incident, Torres said the tragedy already points to a danger that can no longer be ignored.

“Too many children and youth today are growing up in spaces where violence is consumed, shared, laughed at, rehearsed, and slowly accepted as normal.

“In some spaces, deaths of youths are even celebrated as something heroic, if only to sustain a dying yet violent political agenda,” he said.

“More and more, it is becoming clear that the pathways to violence are now passing through classrooms, chat groups, online communities, social media feeds, and homes where actors continuously concoct styles and methods to recruit children and youth,” Torres added.

To prevent this, Torres said the task force strongly supports Senate Bill 1366, House Bill 7460, House Bill 05484, and House Bill 07204, the proposed ‘Terror Grooming and Radicalization Prevention Act.’

The proposed measures seek to prevent terrorism at its source by penalizing terror grooming and radicalization, protecting vulnerable sectors, and disrupting recruitment pathways before individuals become involved in terrorist activities.

“The proposed measures are intended to fill a perceived gap in the country’s counterterrorism framework by addressing the earliest stages of terrorist recruitment.

“Rather than focusing solely on terrorist acts, the bills seek to disrupt the processes of grooming, indoctrination, radicalization, and recruitment that enable terrorist organizations to sustain their membership and influence,” Torres explained.

SB 1366 was authored by former Philippine National Police (PNP) director general, Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa and has been pending at the Senate since September 2025. Meanwhile, HB 7460, authored by Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Rep. Robert Nazal, has been pending at the Lower House since January this year.

The task force also argued that protecting children from terror grooming and radicalization is part of protecting their right to life, safety, education, and a future free from fear.

“Schools and universities must remain places of learning, formation, friendship, and hope. They must never become places where fear, recruitment, or violence can quietly take root,” Torres explained further.

Since its ‘re-establishment’ in December 1968, the CPP has deliberately targeted schools and campuses as recruitment centers for its “armed struggle” by exploiting the idealism and vulnerability to propaganda of the youth and students.