VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte called on the Boy Scouts of the Philippines to help government push Filipino children to finish school.

“As our partner, may I call on the Boy Scouts of the Philippines to support our advocacy for all Filipino children to be able to go to school and obtain degrees,” the Vice President said during the BSP’s 66th Annual National Council Meeting at the Leyte Academic Center in Palo, Leyte.

She said that education “is a powerful weapon against poverty and a strong shield against forces that aims to manipulate, control, or poison the minds of the Filipino children and youth.”

The Vice President also called on the BSP to help protect children from sexual abuse, slavery, illegal drugs, and the deception of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.

“These forces steal the innocence of our children — crushing their souls and destroying their future, thereby destroying the future of our country,” Duterte said.

“As a community, we have a collective responsibility to ensure the future of Filipino children,” she added.

Duterte lauded the BSP for its mission to help boys become strong, confident, skilled, reliable, responsible and productive individuals.

“You have prepared them for bigger tasks like emergency and disaster preparedness and response — and introduced to them survival skills,” she said.

The Vice President also shared the Department of Education’s plans of integrating scouting into the curriculum and the MATATAG Agenda, which pushes for “transformative, concrete, and targeted reforms” in the basic education system.

“Our vision is for the Philippines to become a Bansang Makabata. And Filipino children to become Batang Makabansa.”