Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) commander Lt. General Felimon T. Santos Jr. urged the youth to honor their parents following the concerns and sentiments raised by the parents recently in the Senate who were reportedly disowned by their children recruited by various leftist partylist group.
“Honor your parents, be ambitious, be cautious and be the ambassadors of peace and development in your communities,” the commander, in his closing remarks during the Youth For Peace Movement’s Youth Leaders Summit-Eastern Mindanao in Mt. Moriah Camp, Pagatpat, Malaybalay, Bukidnon on Sunday, August 11.
According to Eastmincom spokesperson Lt. Colonel Ezra Balagtey, the youth responded by handing over their proposed program of activities which was an output of their workshop on how they will contribute to peace and development.
“It covers four thematic programs which are: Organizational Development, Community Development, Peace Communication, and Youth Development,” he said.
Balagtey said the 3-day youth activity which gathered of 117 youth leaders coming from Regions 10, 11, 12 and 13 featured the conduct of cultural night, lecture on Local Governance, Government’s Peace and Development Programs, and a workshop.
He added that the closing activity was likewise graced by Department of Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary for Mindanao Affairs Marjorie Jalosjos and Executive Director Julius Gutierez of the National Youth Commission.
Meantime, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año recently said the department will review the memorandum of agreement with state universities and colleges regarding police visibility in infiltrated schools and universities.
Año said in line with the government’s “whole-of-nation-approach” in eliminating local armed conflict as stated in Executive Order No. 70, which created the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC), police presence in schools and universities can be increased to deter the recruitment program of Leftist groups.
“Tandaan natin na ang laban na ito ay hindi lamang sa red area o mga probinsiya kundi pati dito sa white area o mga lungsod – sa ating mga eskwelahan, factories at iba pa – ito ang kanilang target samantalahin (Let’s remember that this fight is not only in red areas or in the provinces, but also in white areas ir cities, in our schools, factories, these are their target),” Año said in a statement.
