The younger population plays a pivotal role in developing the country, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said Friday, August 12, as it joined the global celebration of the International Youth Day.
“In today’s challenging world, we acknowledge the active participation, as well, as the efforts, of the younger generations in nation-building. They have played key roles across the globe as peacemakers, innovators, political actors, and entrepreneurs. Despite all these, they still face bias and discrimination,” said PAF Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Connor Anthony Canlas.
In the military, Canlas said that various opportunities and platforms must be used to demonstrate support to and empower the youth “so that they may be able to unleash their full potential.”
“As agents of social change, let us amplify their voices to various causes and continue to integrate them in the decision-making process,” Canlas stated.
The International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 of every year since 2000 to draw attention to various issues surrounding the youth globally.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages.”
This highlights the need for every generation to take action and achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which, according to the United Nations (UN), are all critical to youth development.
One of the hottest issues in the military involving the youth is the reimposition of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) where children of legal age are required to undergo military reservist training.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) expressed full support to the endeavor, which is being pursued by Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte, as it noted that the mandatory ROTC will help instill patriotism and nationalism among the youth. They added that reservists will be used in augmenting manpower during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
However, various sectoral groups oppose this proposal as they insisted that there are other ways of promoting nationalism without subjecting the youth to a military way of life.