Group urges Catriona to continue fight for children's rights, welfare

MANILA, Philippines — A child rights group on Monday night congratulated Catriona Gray for winning the Miss Universe 2018 pageant and urged her to continue being an advocate for Filipino children.

Gray, who bested 93 other contestants, talked about her work with children in Manila's Tondo district in the question and answer portion of the pageant. She said the experience taught her to see the beauty in the children.

"I will bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. And this I think if I can teach people to be grateful, we can have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster and children will have smile on their faces," she said to mixed reactions from social media users. Some said her answer "romanticized" poverty. 

RELATED: ‘Romanticizing’ poverty? Miss Universe Catriona Gray’s winning answer draws mixed reactions

"We highly commend her effort in giving the world a glimpse of the heart-wrecking condition of Filipino children, who together with their families, suffer on the daily basis from the social realities of poverty, hunger, homelessness, abuses and violence," Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns said in a press statement.

The group added that government failure to provide support for children in need and to "do its mandate in upholding and protecting the rights of children and implements programs that place them in a very vulnerable situation and incomparable misery."

But, Salinlahi said, "cannot but agree that despite this, there's still a silver lining. We see hope in the eyes of children and it gives us so much strength and courage to aspire and work for a better world where every child is respected and cared for."

Salinlahi said: "While we congratulate you for your hard-earned victory, we encourage you to continue advocating and fighting for the rights of the Filipino children."

NSTP over mandatory ROTC

Among Salinlahi's recent advocacies are for a strengthened National Service Training Program as a substitute for mandatory military training that President Rodrigo Duterte and members of Congress are pushing for.

Salinlahi secretary general Eule Rico Bonganay said in an interview on "The Chiefs" on Cignal TV's One News this month that an expanded NSTP program "can instill nationalism among our youth without taking up the [Reserve Officers Training Corps] program, which will open or place our young students vulnerable to abuses,” he said.

The group has also stood up for Lumad schools put up in indigenous peoples' communities and that are allegedly being harassed by the military and by paramilitary groups and has accused the government of implementing policies that endanger children.

RELATED: On Children's Day, groups say gov't policies put kids at risk

"We believe that through a collective effort, we can turn this dream into a reality. And as an alliance of children's organizations in the Philippines, we would like to offer you our children’s work orientation which can provide you a deeper understanding on the situation of Filipino children and their marginalized families and help you in formulating programs for them," the group said on Monday.

Related video: