SAN NICOLAS, Pangasinan: Local government and public school officials here appealed to the public to stop circulating unverified news about the alleged abduction of some students in various schools by heavily armed men believed to be members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“The fake news reports are very alarming to us and some of the parents refused to send their children to school for fear that they will be kidnapped by the NPA rebels,” some teachers told The Manila Times in an exclusive interview on Monday.