A delegation of 30 singers from the Mandaue Children and Youth Chorus will fly to Rome as the Philippines celebrates the 20th National Children’s Month pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 267 issued on Sept. 30, 1993.
“Bright Child ay Siguraduhin, Responsableng Pamamahayag ay Palaganapin,” is the theme of this year’s celebration, to underscore the debt of excellent and ethical work that traditional, mass and new media practitioners owe to our children.
The choristers who will perform in liturgical ceremonies for the canonization of the 17th century teenage martyr Blessed Pedro Calungsod were fortunate to fined avenues to hone their talents and serve the community.
There is the choir itself led by music maestro Dennis Sugarol and the archdiocesan shrine to Blessed Pedro where the kids have been singing at Mass for nearly a decade.
Sugarol, the choir’s conductor and musical director, said the invitation for the young singers to offer songs in Cebuano, English and Latin for Blessed Pedro is a sign that heaven is with them.
We need more people like Sugarol to reach out to children, not only those in school but especially those who are out in the streets. They, too, deserve to feel that heaven is with them, even it they don’t get to travel to Rome.
As we salute the Mandaue Children and Youth Chorus and wish them well in their upcoming endeavor we cannot forget the young ones who sleep on the sidewalks, beg for alms from passing motorists, sing for money in jeepneys, or worse, rob from pedestrians, sniff Vulcaseal to get a high and be oblivious to the pangs of hunger or are picked up by players in child trafficking.
Towards the end of this month in Baguio City, kids will speak at a summit and perform in a talent competition. At the nation’s capital, the Philippine Educational Theater Association have been entertaining kids with plays based on the times stories of Lola Basyang.
Such celebrations are helpful but will somehow always stick out like sore thumbs for as long as there are disadvantaged children who take or are forced to the streets.
How can this year’s theme be an impulse for taking care of less fortunate children?
Can the Department of Social Welfare and Development spread information as to who the public can contact if they see abandoned children?
Can educators set up a mechanism for a citizen to alert them whenever they spot truant children?
Can barangay tanods strictly enforce curfews and be zealous in conducting roving patrols of places that are likely to be hideouts of children who sniff rugby?
Can people refrain from giving money and give food instead to street children so they don’t use the money to buy drugs?
The government and the public need to step up its outreach for neglected children now or suffer the loss of a generation of potential talent.