MAKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay on Saturday urged young residents to participate in the city’s campaign to fight illegal drugs which remain to be a serious concern of the government under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The campaign dubbed as “Pag-asa sa Makati” has reached close to 6,000 participants, mostly students from the city’s public schools.
The program was launched in April last year through the joint efforts of the Makati Peace and Order Council and Makati Anti-Drug Abuse Council to develop active youth advocates who will serve as the city’s partners in the promotion of a “drug-free Makati.”
“We are glad to note that the Pag-asa sa Makati campaign is fast gaining ground. We encourage more young Makatizens to participate in various training and activities being conducted in our schools and communities,” said Binay.
She added “the entire program is aimed not only to cultivate the skills and talents of the youth, but also to empower them to be great leaders and role models for their peers.”
Binay pointed out that participating in the campaign as youth advocates of drug-free communities was a “much better and wiser option” than joining fraternities or gangs. She said she hoped the youth would be discouraged to do things like that following the death of a Makati high school student on Feb. 9, which was linked to rivalry among fraternity groups. Joel E. Zurbano
“I appeal to students and to all our young constituents to avoid any involvement with groups that breed violence, and to instead devote your time and energy to more productive endeavors, such as the Pag-asa sa Makati campaign,” said Binay.
To date, the campaign has established student groups, developed theatre and arts skills among students, equipped the youth with peer education, and activated civic involvement in battling illegal drugs trade and use within barangays.
Since its launch in April 2017, the campaign has benefited thousands of public high school students in at least six barangays, including Poblacion and San Isidro in District 1 and Comembo, East Rembo, West Rembo, and Pitogo in District 2.
The respective Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils of the said barangays collaborated with the MPOC and MADAC to implement programs integrating arts and multimedia tools.
These include two major workshops, Basic Integrated Theatre Workshop and Repertory Theater Guidance, which were launched last year to train teachers and establish core campaign groups of students initially in six target public schools.
From April to November last year, 96 teachers had been trained, along with 507 students from Fort Bonifacio High School, Makati High School, San Isidro High School, Pitogo High School, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino High School, and Tibagan High School, who became members of their own school’s core campaign groups.
Many of them have expressed delight over the opportunity to take part in such an undertaking which empowers them to speak out on relevant issues like the drug problem, and to positively influence their peers towards self-improvement, rather than self-destruction.
Also launched under the campaign were the Inter-School Song Making Contest, Festival of Plays, a series of school play performances, barangay outreach performances, and poster making challenge events. A total of 434 students from six public schools and from private junior high schools participated in the said activities, which gained a combined audience of 4,430 consisting mostly of public and private school students, and also parents and other young residents.
Meanwhile, from July to December 2017, MADAC hosted 31 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control lectures among 21 elementary schools and eight high schools in the city.
MADAC also held an event called Film Showing Kotra Droga which ran from Nov. 27 to Dec. 28, 2017, covering 29 barangays and villages in the city and catering to a total of 1,619 residents including children, youth, and parents.
MADAC also conducted drug prevention training, seminars, and lectures for private institutions, including Questronix Corporation, Pasay Rotary Club Southeast, and Globetek Science Technology.