A Piece of Advice we needed

In an effort to shed some light on growing issues in our society, Rotaract Club of Caloocan brings forth "One Piece of Advice" (OPOA), a program where an open, honest, and safe space is provided to talk about certain issues that affects our community. It is a series of panel discussions where individuals and experts are invited to talk about matters that some of us struggles to speak out even in our own homes.

The club launched OPOA this month of Promoting Peace with two sessions; first is about Red-Tagging, and second topic is Anti-Terrorism Law. Both are political and heavily discussed on social media by youth leaders, activists, institutions and other organizations.

On its first installment, which happened last February 13, 2021, via Zoom, RAC Caloocan partnered with the Rotaract Clubs of Marikina Central and Wack Wack of Rotary International District 3800, and Rotaract Club of University District Manila of Rotary International District 3810. The organizers invited Atty. Manuel Joseph Franco, a lawyer and, rotaractor to be the first panelist. He provided details to answer "What is Red-Tagging?" and "Why is Red-Tagging widely practiced in our country?". While Rep. Sarah Jane Elago of the Kabataan Party-list served as the second panelist, she shared insightful thoughts on who is the target of red-tagging and her experience being one. The third panelist, Ms. Alyannah Lagasca, a Co-Convenor of Youth Resist, discussed the "Victims of Red-Tagging" and how it affects our rights as citizens of this country.

After the discussion of the three panelists, an open forum commenced answering the questions of the participants. The program ran for about two and a half hours.

For its second installment, RAC Caloocan together with the first three co-host clubs welcomed the Rotaract Club of Midtown QC of Rotary International District 3780 as part of the organizing committee. Atty. Francis Tom Temprosa, Director IV, Human Rights Education and Promotion Office of the Commission on Human Rights was invited as the first panelist, where he provided the basics of Anti-Terrorism Law. He also discussed the dangers of this law under the Human Rights framework, and the importance of having it implemented or not. Another panelist for the second session was Dr. Raymond John Naguit of the Akbayan Party-list. He talked about the precautionary measures needed to take for pro-active youths and discussed who will be affected by the implementation of this law.

An open forum took place after the discussions to entertain the questions of the participants. This happened last February 20, 2021, via zoom, and the program ran for almost two hours. The host clubs believed that although Rotaract is an apolitical youth organization, it is also its duty to raise awareness on certain causes and educate our people on what is really happening in our society.