Dangerous Playground: Addressing the issue on Child Soldiers

We had the third and last forum entitled “Dangerous Playground: Addressing the issue on Child Soldiers” in the Auditorium. I wasn’t able to attend the morning session although I was there early in the afternoon. First, I would like to give a brief explanation about our forum.

The Child Soldiers are the use of young children which takes three distinct forms: they could take part in hostilities, or they can be used in roles such as porters, spies, look outs or even sex slaves for both genders. The most disappointing part is that they could also be used for political advantage such as human shields or in propaganda.

We had 2 speakers which are Colonel Dickson Hermoso and Kervin Ras. Kervin was the first speaker, who happens to be my block mate in National Development. The first time I saw him I wasn’t surprised that he’d be a Soldier because he used to wear shirts that represents the army. He shared his experiences in Iraq and told us that it was really nerve-wracking to see a child dying because of the bombings. The second speaker is currently the Chief of Public Affairs Division and he told us that Child soldiering is rampant in the areas of the Southern Philippines. They are also deprived of food, shelter and most importantly, education. I really feel bad with the things that are happening not only in our country but in others as well. I really hope that there would come a time that all of these problems will be solved.