Daily Tribune
The National Security Council on Friday broke the narratives of left-leaning organizations that the missing students tagged as environmentalist, Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro were missing and abducted by government forces.
Instead, they are "safe and sound" in a safehouse as they turned themselves to the police for fear of their lives after leaving the leftist movement.
"They left the movement. Hindi totoo na abducted itong dalawa. They left the movement on their own free will," NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan E. Malaya told the media at the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict press briefing held at the National Press Club in Manila.
"Second. They are not environmentalists, they were organizers ng kaliwa," Malaya added referring to local communist front organizations like Kabataan and Karapatan.
Since 1 September 2023 the two young girls, according to Malaya, were "planning to leave the movement" as narrated by Tamano and Castro in their sworn statements now forwarded to the Department of Justice to prepare charges against individuals and groups that took advantage of the conditions and experiences by the two students.
Their sworn statements, Malaya said were done "not in front' of soldiers or police, but with lawyers from the Public Attorney's Office and Commission on Human Rights representatives.
"This is also a scam, may mga kumakalap ng pera (through g-cash or paymaya) calling for donations (to find the two girls)," Malaya said.
He challenged the communists front organizations to return the money collected or give them to Tamano and Castro or to their parents who suffered more from false narratives.
