SKPC successfully concludes in 17 towns, 1 city in Cot By Jimmy Sta. Cruz PGO Media Center AMAS, Kidapawan City (May 28) – Thousands of grade five pupils from all over the province of Cotabato have joined and successfully learned fresh ideas from the annual Gov. Lala Summer Kids Peace Camp (SKPC). SKPC, which started last March 20 in Arakan and concluded in Alamada on May 28 has gathered the fifth graders who went through different trainings to develop their leadership potentials and eventually be part of the provincial government’s advocacy on peace. Children, young as they may appear can be peace makers and can serve as instrument to attain long lasting peace. Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza, realizing the big contribution children of the province could give in the quest for peace and harmony conceptualized SKPC during her first year of governance in 2010. “We cannot discount the role of the children in the pursuit of peace in our province. The future will rely on them. We should make the children understand the value of peace and harmony”. Gov. Mendoza said. Thus, the concept of giving the children an opportunity to group themselves together, know each other and learn from one another came out. Norito Mazo, Community Affairs Officer I and the Event Coordinator of SKPC said that the children’s convergence in different venues has created an impact to the young participants as they likely to become leaders in the future. “The children really appreciates the learning from the training because they can very well relate to the values of SKPC”, Mazo said. “Every year, we also teach the children to understand and appreciate the religious beliefs and cultural diversity of the Indigenous Peoples, Moro and Christians. In the process, the children learn their rights and responsibilities as they were given the avenue to develop their leadership skills. This year practically all public schools in all the three districts of Cotabato actively participated with the SKPC. A total of 23,144 grade five pupils joined the SKPC this summer. The total number of participants was derived from the number of registrants in each town. Starting with Arakan (March 20-22) with 1,108 participants, the SKPC was conducted from one town to another. Antipas (March 24-26) 513 participants, Pres. Roxas (March 27-29) 846 participants, Kidapawan City (April 3-5) 1,738 particpants, Makilala (April 6-8) 1,872 participants, Tulunan (April 10-12) 724 participants, M’lang (April 14-16) 1,301 participants, Matalam (Apr. 21-23) 1,403 participants, Kabacan (April 24-26) 1,715 participants, Carmen (April 28-30) 1,574 participants , Magpet (May 2-4) 1,101, Pikit (May 5-7) 2,594 participants, Aleosan (May 8-10) 722 participants, Midsayap (May 12-14) 1,999 participants, Libungan (May 15-17) 916 participants, Pigcawayan (May 19-21) 1,134 participants, Banisilan (May 22-24) 1,009 and finally culminates in Alamada (May 26-28) 875 participants. The implementation of SKPC and its legal basis is the Provincial Ordinance No. 292 or the Child and Youth Welfare and Development Code of Cotabato which uphold the children’s rights, instill them with loyalty to the country and actively involve them in public affairs. Aside from honing leadership skills through trainings, the children were also trained on what they can do in times of disaster or emergency situations. They were given tips and ideas on fire prevention, first aid and basic life support which they could perform to help mitigate ill-effects of disasters. The SKPC created a positive impact among the pupils. It also gained support from the school administrations, teachers and parents as well. The Department of Education (DepEd) led by Cotabato schools Division Superintendent Omar A. Obas gave an all-out support to the provincial government in the conduct of SKPC in many schools and so were other government agencies like the PNP, BFP, Phil. Army. Two offices in the provincial government- the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Operations Center (PDRRMOC) and the North Cotabato Emergency Response Team (NCERT) also contributed to the trainings by giving drills and exercises. (JIMMY STA. CRUZ/PGO Media Center with reports from ROVILLE ANN SOTTO)
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:34:36 +0000
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