The February 15, 2021 police raid of the Lumad Bakwit School in the SVD University of San Carlos Talamban Campus-Cebu in the guise of rescue operation is a blatant violation of the right to education and the right to self-determination of indigenous children and youth. The Council of Bishops condemns this atrocious act by the Police Regional Office -7 and the involved state security forces. The allegations that the Lumad Bakwit Schools or the Indigenous Evacuee School is a training ground of the guerilla New People’s Army are untenable.
