Student leaders from various schools in Negros Oriental province are being tapped to help promote Filipino values formation and undertake voters’ education as the country prepares for the 2025 midterm elections.
“You play a vital role in reaching out to the young people in the schools and even in the communities by setting a good example in values formation, something that unfortunately is now lacking in the younger generations and is being lost in the older ones,” said Msgr. Julius Heruela, convenor of the Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete, and head of the local Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, on Wednesday.
Some 20 student government/council leaders from at least six colleges and universities in this capital, as well as members of the Parish Youth Council, attended the first of a series of lectures on values formation and voters’ education.
Heruela said the PPCRV’s modules on Tibok Pinoy will be the foundation for the values formation and voters’ education to be undertaken by the student leaders and their respective organizations.
Tibok Pinoy focuses on the Filipino values of matapat (sincere), masipag (industrious), magalang (respectful), matulungin (helpful), makabayan (patriotic/nationalistic), and mapanuri (inquisitive).
“These are values that a Filipino must possess when choosing who to vote in every electoral exercise,” Monsignor Heruela said.
In the past, he noted, voters’ education focused on the qualities of a candidate or political leader as the basis for voting, but that this is no longer useful since many voters can be easily swayed by money and promises, he added.
The values formation and voters’ education this time will not be limited only to every election but will be a continuing activity, Heruela said. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
