The Holy Angel University- University Student Council (HAU-USC) initiates “MATENAKAN: Laban Para King Katutuan” for this year’s Youth Development and Advocates Week which will run from September 12 to 16 to shed light on the topic of disinformation and all of its forms.
Paolo Montances, the organizer-in-charge of Matenakan 2022, mentioned that they opted to focus on one main advocacy for this year’s event, which was Misinformation, Disinformation, Mal-information (MDM) in comparison with last year’s theme that revolved on youth empowerment.
“As someone who is an advocate of creating safe digital spaces, for this year, I, together with the council, opted to focus on a main advocacy which is fighting misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information as this issue is very timely, especially in the digital world. Hence, the theme “Matenakan: Laban Para King Katutuan was made,” says Montances.
Moreover, USC President Erron Hernandez, stated that the issue of MDM is not as widely vocalized enough inside the University. Hence, he expressed that the issue must be extensively conversed and discussed by educators and students in the University.
“It is also very important for us to start conversations like this in academic institutions such as ours,” Hernandez vocalized.
In light of the advocacy and theme of Matenakan 2022, Hernandez together with USC members aims to inspire the Angelite community in coming together whilst discussing and proposing as many solutions as possible to the issue of MDM.
Hernandez also mentioned that this year’s theme was magnified due to its relevance as the issue of MDM is seen as a “threat to society, democracy, and to our rights.”
“This is basically just another start of a crusade against disinformation,” Hernandez added.
Montances, meanwhile, articulated that every event revolves around the issue of MDM and that there was a diverse selection of events for Angelites to participate in, which are posted on the official Facebook page of the USC, Holy Angel University – University Student Council.
Hernandez further expressed that this is USC’s advocacy that they share with the studentry, and they look forward to more Angelites in advocating for the truth and standing up against disinformation.
