North Cotabato Youth Launches Campus Tour for Peace

MyPeace Boses ng Kabataan, a youth-led group, launched an information dissemination campaign on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) with a forum on BOL and civilian peacekeeping at Aleosan National High School in North Cotabato last October 5.

“Our aim is to inform Christian and Muslim students about the salient points of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and to empower the youth,” said Ali Melicano, MyPeace chairperson. “I have experienced displacement when I was a child and I have experienced losing my confidence. But through peace camps and seminars I was able to overcome my insecurities,” he added.

With support from BALAY Rehabilitation Center, the campus tour will go around schools in North Cotabato, especially those with MyPeace members.

“Through peace camps and leadership seminars that BALAY and MyPeace is organizing, we can develop another batch of young peace builders and human rights defenders in the region,” Melicano concluded.

More than 200 students mostly Christians participated in the pilot activity. It was co-presented by Generation Peace Youth Network (GenPeace) and Aleosan National High School.

Among the resource speakers were Atty. Omar Sema from Bangsamoro Transition Commission and Dra. Victoria Batog, a peace education professor at the Southern Christian College.