Filipino students trade peace shout-outs via video conference

By eGov Innovation Editors | Mar 14, 2011

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MANILA -- Thousands of students from Manila and Mindanao exchanged thoughts on peace and communication through a mass video conference held recently.

Around 2,000 high school students gathered at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila and discussed topics about religious discrimination, peace talks, war and conflict, and information technology with some 3,000 youths assembled at the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos City.

PeaceTech, a non-profit organization that promotes peace among the youth, spearheaded the video conference dubbed as “Building Understanding through Technology: Overcoming Prejudice and Discrimination.”

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), together with the British Embassy, Department of Education, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and Ateneo de Manila University, partnered with PeaceTech to stage the event.

UNICEF Ambassador Gary Valenciano joined the event, offering a set of songs and giving inspirational messages to the students who participated in the event.

“You yourselves can be a source of peace for your family and friends,” Valenciano said. “It gives me hope that because of you, you and your children will continue to have peace.”

Broadcast journalist Atom Araullo hosted the program in PUP while United Nations (UN) Ambassador Baicon Macaraya led the event at the Lagao Gymnasium.