Maguindanao youth groups launch province-wide network

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — At least 188 youth organizations, mostly led by Moro students, on Tuesday pledged support to the Mindanao peace process and vowed to help push the socio-economic agenda of the provincial government forward.

Most members of the youth groups are beneficiaries of the provincial government's Maguindanao Program for Education and Empowerment (MagPEACE), which bankrolls the schooling of more than 5,000 students from across the 36 towns in the province.

Provincial Administrator Wahab Tunga said the officials of different youth organizations gathered in Buluan town, the new provincial capital, where they committed support to diplomatic means of fostering cultural and religious solidarity among the local Muslim, Christian and lumad communities.

The youth leaders also fused ranks under the Maguindanao Youth Network (MYN), which they formed and launched during the gathering.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu personally administered their oath of membership to the pioneering MYN, Tunga said.

Tunga said the MYN was established as a "peace and development vehicle" for Maguindanao's youth sector, whose educational advancement the office of the provincial governor aims to sustain through college scholarships and other interventions.

Mangudadatu told reporters one objective of the MYN is to engage Maguindanao's youth sector in various continuing academic and extra-curricular activities to prevent them from getting hooked to drugs and other illegal activities.

Members of the pioneering MYN also committed support to the efforts of the government to address domestic security concerns through traditional and religious interventions, with the help of the local Islamic and Christian elders.

"Most importantly, this youth network will play a big, active role in spreading peace and sustainable development in the province," Tunga said.

Mangudadatu also issued documentary accreditation to the 188 youth groups that gathered in Buluan town last Tuesday to launch the MYN.