(Manila Bulletin) In her speech delivered during her inauguration as the country’s 15th Vice President at the San Pedro Square here, Duterte acknowledged that the children are faced with a complex future filled with conflict and uncertainties.

She said some of these challenges include the winding cycle of poverty, the trauma of broken families, the life-long baggage because of irresponsible and bad parenting, the abandonment issues due to an absentee parent, the anguish of gender confusion and discrimination, the destruction brought about by drugs, and the lure of easy money in criminality.

Duterte also mentioned among the pressing issues involving the minors such as the increasing cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases among minors, and the failure to identify and speak up against different kinds of abuses, the life altering effects of teenage pregnancy, the detrimental effects of illiteracy, the emotional injury of bullying, unstable mental wellness, recruitment to support terrorism, and misinformation in the internet.

Duterte said the parents have a duty to teach their children the “values of integrity, discipline, respect, and compassion for others,” emphasizing that a strong, loving, happy family sets down all the basic foundations essential in the development and growth of a child.