4th Football for Peace Festival: Not all wars are won with guns

From Rappler (Mar 13): 4th Football for Peace Festival: Not all wars are won with guns

The Philippine Marine Corps is set to hold their 4th Football For Peace Festival Cup on April 18



PLAYING TO WIN. During the second Football for Peace Festival, young football players from Palawan, demonstrated determination and enthusiasm during their warm-up drill. Rappler file photo

On April 18, the Philippine Marine Corps with the Football For Peace Movement in collaboration with Fleet-Marine Football Club, is set to hold the 4th Football For Peace Festival Cup at the Philippine Marine Corps Football Grounds, Marine Barracks Rudiardo Brown, Lawton Ave in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

More than 80 teams from within and outside of Metro Manila are expected to compete in the festival.

In 2011, the Philippine Marine Corps, initiated the Football for Peace program to bring kids from conflict areas to Manila. Aimed at promoting peace through sports and education, the program conducted simultaneous football clinics and programs in schools and areas near Marine detachment units in Sulu. (READ: #FootballForPeace: Indestructible balls for indestructible dreams)

In order to sustain this movement, the group also held Football for Peace Festival cups every April at the Philippine Marine Corps Football Grounds in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

The program has covered different conflict areas including Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga, Palawan, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Basilan, and Misamis Oriental among others. The Philippine Army also joined the movement for peace. At present, there are over 1,500 kids and counting participating in the program.

Since 2011, the Philippine Marine Corps have had the following activities:

• Three Football Peace Cups in Sulu
• Four Peace One Day Cup held every September 21 and participated by 193 UN Member States
• Football Clinic in place of the Peace Cup in Zamboanga (during the Zamboanga Seige)
• Three Football For Peace Festival Cups in Manila

Through the program, an average of 200 children from different conflict areas in Visayas and Mindanao are brought to Manila for the annual festival. The Football for Peace festival aims to provide a normal and conflict-free environment to the children.
 
Rappler has been a campaign partner of the Football for Peace Movement since 2012.
Sharifamae H. Salip Jamuh, one of the program's many scholars, has recently graduated with a high school diploma from Western Mindanao State University in 2014. Made possible through the Football for Peace movement, she was able to enroll at the University of Santo Tomas where she is in her first year, taking up Physical Education. She is also a member of the UST Women’s Soccer Varsity Team.

[Football for Peace movement is open to all kinds of supports and pledges. Interested groups/individuals may help by providing sponsorship for the educational tour, their meals and snacks, or any kind/activity that would make the children's stay in Manila a memorable experience. You can host them on any date between the 14 of April 2015 - 21 April 2015. For more details, you may contact 1LT Rowena B Dalmacio PN(M), Office of the Civil Military Operations, MC7 at +63 (927)3997153]