A TOTAL of 420 schools from the divisions of Butuan and Cabadbaran cities and Agusan del Norte received Philippine flags as part of Ayala Foundation's #MagingMagiting Flag Campaign on Thursday, May 9, at Taligaman Elementary School.
The #MagingMagiting Flag Campaign is Ayala Foundation's movement that aims to distribute at least 10,000 Philippine flags to public schools in all regions in the country.
"We believe the nation's progress will start with love of country. This is why we went back to providing the simple but forgotten presence of what symbolizes our being Filipino, the Philippine flag," Ayala Foundation president Ruel Maranan said.
"We're not talking of the flag and the flag law that covers it, but it really goes back to talking of nationalism and when you talk of nationalism, the best symbol, obviously, will only be the flag," he said.
The campaign hopes to address the 100,000 gap of public institutions without flags (military camps, precincts, government offices, and public schools) as identified by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), as well as rekindle and honor love of country.
"Ang kakulangan sa atin ng watawat umaabot ng 65,000 ang eskwelahan all over the country (we have 65,000 schools that don't have Philippine flags)," Teodoro Atienza of the NHCP said.
Atienza also mentioned that there are also several police stations whose flags are already damaged and in need of replacement. To address this, he said there will be a memorandum of agreement signing with the Philippine National Police after the election.
"The Philippine flag is one of the ways we can show nationalism but our tagline, 'Maging Magiting,' is also an encouragement na sana maging magiting tayo sa pang araw-araw, sa malaki man o maliit na paraan (that hopefully we will be brave in our daily lives, whether in big or small ways)," said Maranan.
Ronald Mascariñas, president of Chooks-to-Go, Ayala Foundation's partner for this campaign, also showed his appreciation on the efforts to rekindle nationalism.
"We are very honored to be part of this campaign with Ayala Foundation, dahil sa estado ngayon na ang pagmamahal sa bayan ay binabalewala na lang, importante ang ganitong mga programa para magising at mahalin ng mga Pilipino ang kanilang bayan (because of the state of our love for our country, sometimes we just ignore it. What's important that these kind of programs are made so that the Filipinos can be awaken and love their country)," Mascariñas said.
The flag distribution in Butuan City was participated by 500 people comprised of school heads, principals, teachers, representatives from government organizations, NHCP, Department of Education and private institution.
Caraga is the sixth region to be visited by the campaign, after National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Western Visayas and Davao. At present, 4,226 Philippine flags have already been distributed.
Ayala Foundation will continue on with its next phase in the latter half of the year, by also providing Philippine flags in major police precincts and military installations.