24 November 2017—The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur welcomed a 60-member delegation composed of Filipino-Muslim youth leaders, their facilitators and officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who are in Malaysia’s capital for a four-day Muslim Filipino Youth Leaders' Educational Tour from November 20 to 24, where they will have a series of interactions with their Malaysian peers from various cultural and religious backgrounds.

The youth, with ages ranging from 14 to 25 years old and mostly from Maguindanao Province, arrived on November 19 aboard a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane.  The delegation is led by Brigadier General Earl D. Baliao, Assistant Division Commander of the 6th Infantry Division.   

After a series of briefings on November 20, Ambassador Charles C. Jose hosted a welcome dinner for the delegation.  The delegates also performed a Muslim-inspired dance number.  

“There is much misunderstanding of how Islam is perceived worldwide, thus there is much importance on highlighting Islam as a religion of understanding, peace, love and tolerance.  We hope that you would take advantage of this visit to see the other side of Islam, and to share it with your fellow youths,” Ambassador Jose said.

“We also hope that as future leaders, you will use what you have learned here to ensure that Mindanao would be an area of peace and development,” he added.

The youth will also visit different Malaysian government offices such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Department of Islamic Development, organizations and schools such as the Global Movement of Moderates and the International Islamic University of Malaysia, as well as go around Kuala Lumpur.

On its second year, the Muslim Filipino Youth Leaders' Educational Tour is a project of the civil-military operations office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in cooperation with the Embassy.  END