The city police office and a youth group here have tapped music as a tool to raise awareness against the deceptive recruitment of the New People’s Army (NPA).

At least 10 bands competed in the first “Battle of the Bands Musika Laban sa Insurhensiya (Music Against Insurgency)” held Monday night by the city police office here and the Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terorismo (KKDAT) – Tacloban Chapter.

Col. Michael Palermo, acting city police director, said in an interview Tuesday that coming up with this kind of competition was a way of achieving the goal of having a peaceful community.

“This is also our way to express our solidarity with other counterpart(s) of public service to prove to the general public our sincere thrust and our commitment to deliver to them safe, unified, and innovative initiatives that will truly win the heart and mind of the people, most especially our youth,” Palermo added.

KKDAT-Tacloban president Peter Julian Barrantes noted that “music is a magic that connects people” and the battle of bands is not just intended to entertain.

“This is a meaningful action to awaken the consciousness of youth who are blinded by the communist insurgent’s doctrine,” Barrantes told reporters.

The regional office of the Philippine National Police (PNP) here has urged other police offices in the region to emulate and conduct the same activity in their respective areas.

Brig. Gen. Joel Limson, Police Regional Office 8 (Eastern Visayas) deputy director for administration, called on all police offices in the region and the regional organization of KKDAT to make the event in the city a template and conduct the same event in other cities and towns.

“We need the success of this activity to be shared in other unit(s) and for the KKDAT to sustain this program. The police regional office is always here to support you, so let us start planning on how to cascade this to their units of the PNP,” Limson added.

The competition was held at the Leyte Normal University campus in this city.

Participating bands sang a cover song and an original composition, with the core of the lyrics on the anti-insurgency campaign of the government and how the youth should avoid being victims of communist recruitment.

Winners of the competition received cash prizes – PHP15,000 for first place, PHP10,000 for second place, and PHP8,000 for third place.

Declared as winners were the Speck band (third place) with their song “Gising”; the Fortisimo band (second place) with their original song “Ikaw, Sila, Ako”; and Jilla band (first place) with their original composition “Yan Dapat”.

The song “Injustice, Isn’t It”, by the After School band bagged the special award and best original song composition. (PNA)