By: Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Around 43 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental joined the three-day Youth Leadership Summit in the town last Aug 29, 2019.
The activity was a joint effort of the Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion (IB), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine National Police (PNP), Municipal Environmental and Natural Resources Office (Menro), Trinity Christian Fellowship, and the local government unit.
Lieutenant Colonel Patricio Tomales, 15th IB commander said that the “youth sector is one of the vulnerable sectors in our society which is always the target of the Communist Party of the Philippines -New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) terrorist recruitment because of their idealism and curiosity.”
He warned them that they must be careful about people telling them issues as these are the propaganda exploited by the CPP-NPA.
Meanwhile, Bernald Gelbolingo, one of the participants said he previously joined a protest against the government as he is a member of a progressive group.
“Our recruiter taught me lessons that made me get angry and become disappointed with the government. The youth leadership summit made me realize that those lessons being taught to us by the leader of our group were just only propaganda and a deception,” he added.
Mayor Ernesto Estrao said he is thankful for having another youth sector in the town.
“Maybe, we can register you either with the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) or Security Exchange Commission (SEC) so that you will become a legitimate partner of the municipality for peace and development,” the mayor said.
“I hope that your group will multiply by telling others in your communities about the relevance of this activity in peace and development,” he added.
The activity also included other youths in the municipality. Insights were provided by the different resource speakers all geared towards helping develop sound personality, responsible citizenship and sense of belongingness to community development efforts.
National youth leadership summit president Jhon Patrick Y. Onggao was also present during the activity.
