THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has vowed to promote peace education and nurturing moderation among the youth to prevent violent extremism.
DILG officer-in-charge Catalino S. Cuy said violent extremists tend to leverage on the vulnerabilities of the youth to recruit them to their cause.
He said there is a need for greater effort to inculcate in the youth the importance of moderation and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
“Violent extremism is here and now. We saw that in the Marawi crisis. We are seeing it all over the world. Let us, therefore, put forward more initiatives to promote social and ethical values among our youth and insulate them from violent extremism,” said Cuy, who chaired the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 2017 Ministers Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC).
During the Philippine hosting of Asean, the heads of state of the ten member countries of the regional bloc approved the Manila Declaration to Counter the Rise of Radicalization and Violent Extremism.
Under the Manila Declaration, Asean affirms to counter radicalization and violent extremism, particularly those that lead to terrorism in all forms and manifestations, through means such as the prevention of radicalization, financing, recruitment, and mobilization of individuals into terrorist groups.
Strong emphasis on the aspect of deradicalization in rehabilitation and reintegration programs as part of comprehensive measures in countering terrorism, and continued information sharing and exchanges on best practices among the Asean Member States on countering and preventing radicalization and the tools of extremism are also integrated in the Manila Declaration. (SDR/SunStar Philippines)