By Youth mass organization Anakbayan – West Visayas State University (WVSU) raised alarm after uncovering a covert member of the Student Intelligence Network (SIN) who had been surveilling the group as part of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
In a statement released by the organization on February 1, they claimed that the individual, who identified himself as “Simoun,” infiltrated the student organization by presenting a fabricated identity. He had been under suspicion for several months due to questionable activities, including secretly taking ‘zoomed-in’ photos of Anakbayan-WVSU members and other mass organizations during meetings and events without their consent.
Simoun claimed to be a first-year student at WVSU’s College of Education, majoring in English and denied to be enrolled in the ROTC program and insisted that he was taking Community Training and Welfare Service (CWTS) program instead. However, according to Anakbayan-WVSU, their doubts began to surface when he was frequently seen without the university’s prescribed uniform or student ID. Additionally, the group received an image of him wearing military camouflage, holding a makeshift wooden rifle with the word “ROTC” written on it, further raising questions about his true identity and affiliations despite his claims.
After months of observation, the group initiated a confrontation, during which Simoun admitted that he was not a student of WVSU. He revealed that he was enrolled at a different university in Iloilo City, an ROTC officer, and had been taking photos of Anakbayan-WVSU and other organization members, sending these photos to his “office” as part of his intelligence report. Anakbayan-WVSU later confirmed that Simoun was not registered as a student at WVSU after cross-referencing his details with the Office of Student Affairs (OSA).
Anakbayan-WVSU condemned the incident, expressing that it was an attempt to silence progressive voices and further militarize the campus environment.
“As his agenda has been exposed, it indicates how the ROTC, the military institution, and the government weaponize fellow students to monitor, surveil, and harass their peers—students who are simply advocating for students’ rights and welfare. We are outraged that our fellow students are being manipulated and used as weapons to vilify and harass those standing for genuine people’s demands,” the group said in a statement.
“The incident is a manifestation of how military forces create a culture of impunity and instill it in the minds of the youth. This rotten and backwards culture and mindset will be taught to our students if mandatory ROTC is implemented. It is the opposite of being patriotic and nationalistic,” the group added.
Anakbayan-WVSU also criticized the current government’s push for mandatory ROTC, warning that it would create a culture of impunity among students and further militarize education. They argued that instead of investing in intelligence funds and ROTC programs, the government should focus on addressing the country’s worsening education crisis, which requires urgent financial support. “Instead of concentrating a massive amount of public funds toward intelligence operations and the ROTC, these resources should be allocated to the education sector, which many Filipino youth desperately need. This incident strengthens our call to reject the revival of mandatory ROTC and urge the government to focus on addressing the looming education crisis by allocating a greater budget,” the group stated./PT
| via CEGP-Panay
