CEBU, Philippines — The Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 has presented its Strengthening Holistic Intervention through Empowerment and Leadership Development (SHIELD) for Youth Program before the Mandaue City Council as part of efforts to prevent violence among young people.
The program aims to achieve violence-free schools in Central Visayas by 2028 through youth empowerment, leadership development, awareness campaigns, and interventions that promote positive decision-making.
The Mandaue City Council invited PRO-7 to present the initiative to help local lawmakers understand the program and explore possible support for its implementation.
“Nagpa-present sila para masabtan nila what really this program is about so that they could understand… ilang na-endorse so that it could be implemented and supported if ever ma-finalize na namo with DepEd (Department of Education),” said PRO-7 representative Police Lt. Christine Joy Marie Pimentel.
However, Pimentel said the program has yet to be implemented as its framework is still being finalized and refined in coordination with DepEd.
She hopes that the initiative would eventually be institutionalized and expanded beyond Central Visayas.
“Hopefully soon it will be institutionalized. In God’s will, it will be all over the Philippines if this will be implemented,” Pimentel said.
She said SHIELD was conceptualized by PRO-7 as a youth-led initiative that would consolidate existing programs and interventions addressing violence in schools.
The SHIELD program has three key objectives.
First, it seeks to empower and engage students through organized school-based activities focused on leadership development and violence prevention.
Second, it aims to strengthen coordination among stakeholders through effective communication, reporting, monitoring, and referral mechanisms.
Third, it seeks to provide child-friendly support services through early identification, appropriate interventions and accessible counseling by qualified psychologists.
“This is actually youth-led, para sa kabataan g’yud ni siya,” Pimentel said.
She explained that the program will adopt a whole-of-nation approach, in which students would be empowered to take active roles while communities serve as their support system.
“So that they can feel that they are important, which is true, because they are our future leaders,” she said.
Pimentel added that existing initiatives, including anti-bullying programs, would be streamlined under the SHIELD framework to establish a more coordinated approach to preventing violence.
Once adopted by local government units (LGUs), including Mandaue City, the framework shall be implemented under the guidance of DepEd.
DepEd would serve as the lead agency, with support from the Philippine National Police, LGUs, the Department of Health and other government agencies.
“Daghan g’yud ang support partners, whole of nation g’yud siya kay every one of us is concerned man g’yud when it comes to the safety and welfare of our students,” Pimentel said.
She added that stakeholders are welcome to provide inputs and help improve the program as PRO-7 works toward its 2028 target.
Meanwhile, Police Lt. Jemima Maca-antal said presenting the initiative to the city council was also important in gathering recommendations and guidance from local lawmakers.
“I think they are willing to support naman and to cooperate with the program. Magbibigay din sila ng mga schools for pilot implementation,” Maca-antal said.
Aside from Mandaue, which is the first local government unit to be introduced to the initiative, PRO-7 also plans to present the program to Lapu-Lapu City.
Pimentel stressed that cooperation among stakeholders will be crucial to achieving the program’s objectives, particularly in ensuring the safety and welfare of young people. — (FREEMAN)