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[av_heading heading=’Binag: ‘Well-guided youth hope of motherland’ ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY CAROLYN JANE ABELLO
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ILOILO City – In commemorating the death of Dr. Jose Rizal, Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag recited a line attributed to the national hero: “The youth is the hope of the motherland.”
But the Police Regional Office 6 director suggested that Ilonggos tweak it a bit – “a well-guided youth is the hope of the motherland” – as he cited that a considerable number of drug surrenderers in the city were part of the youth.
Of the 3,393 drug surrenderers this year, 1,330 (40 percent) were aged between 18 and 30 years old, Binag said during a ceremony on the 121st death anniversary of Rizal yesterday, Rizal Day, at Plaza Libertad.
This figure “seems to declare the opposite of Rizal’s words,” the police official said.
“Siguro ang lesson natin doon talagang may challenge sa matatanda,” said Binag.
Binag stressed that the older generation should share the responsibility of making the youth the hope of the motherland.
Being among the adults in society, the police were doing their part in this – specifically by keeping the youth away from drugs – he said.
The officers started the campaign among themselves, Binag said. “Sabi nga, ‘Charity begins at home,’ so pina-drug test lahat ng pulis…tapos iyong positive, dismissed.”
“We cannot let our youths navigate the road to positive change by themselves. We have to show them the true north. We have to share our wisdom with them, culled from years of experience and learning from mistakes,” he said.
For his part, Mayor Jose Espinosa III said the city government was also implementing measures to protect the youth, among them “limiting party hours” up to only 2 a.m.
Espinosa has issued Executive Order No. 146 ordering all establishments dispensing alcoholic beverages in this city to close by 2 a.m.
The “unregulated dispensation” of intoxicating drinks results “in the improper and harmful conduct and behavior of consumers,” the mayor said in the order.
According to Espinosa, Rizal was an “embodiment of what a Filipino is and will be.”
“Rizal made a supreme sacrifice of giving his life,” said the mayor.
Police were also working to change the public’s perception of Iloilo, Binag said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly called Iloilo the “most shabu-lized” and the “bedrock” of illegal drugs in the country.
“We need to come up with a new narrative, a new story for Iloilo, for Panay, for Guimaras… that’s what we’re pushing,” Binag said.
A wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal monument and a cultural presentation by the Iloilo Prima Galaw Productions portraying the life story of the national hero highlighted the ceremony.
Local government, police and school officials, and representatives from Girl and Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Veterans Federation of the Philippines, and Senior Citizens’ Organization, among others, attended. (With Philippine News Agency/PN)
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