We call them the hope of our country, the future of our nation. But are the Filipino youth today ready to tackle the diverse and overwhelming issues of our country?That seems to be the case, if one hundred outstanding youth leaders are to be our standard. In a simple ceremony, 48 young Filipino champions gathered together as the World Bank and the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government (ASoG) launched their Youth Leaders for Knowledge and Development (YLKD) program on September 9 at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City as part of their ongoing partnership for Philippine development.
Approximately 100 students and young professionals were chosen to take part in this yearlong program that will see them meeting and interacting with our country’s leaders in different fields, learning from each other, and bridging talents for development.
“We wanted young leaders to develop their skills early on to benefit our country today and in the near future,” Harvey Keh, director of the Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship program of ASoG, says.
“We also realized the value of networking to be able to accomplish more with more assistance.”
“We made sure to get participants from different backgrounds so they can really learn from each other,” Cristyl Senajon, program assistant for ASoG, says.
Queen Caranto, an editor and young professional, was happy to discover that the group was composed of diverse individuals. “We have all sorts of professions and degrees but what is common is that we are all driven to a selfless goal for our country. It’s inspiring to hear their own ideas and know about their busy and dedicated lives.”
Changemakers
The World Bank and ASoG first broached the idea for a youth leaders program after their successful knowledge-sharing event “Panibagong Paraan” was launched late last year. Government officials and civil society leaders shared ideas and areas for application to help make good governance work for the poor.
This year, the two institutions decided to continue their partnership, extending their work to include the youth. Both the World Bank and ASoG realized that there remains a need to mainstream young people in discussions on knowledge on development, the youth being major stakeholders in the country’s future.
“The World Bank recognizes the capacity of young people to become great leaders some day,” Vincent Abrigo of the World Bank says. “This program is envisioned to be one of the many platforms where these future leaders can have a chance to talk with each other on matters of development that also confronts us as a nation. We believe that their opinion matters and what they think can be better solutions to improving the lives of their fellow Filipinos.”
“The youth have the idealism, the energy, and the drive to help create positive change in our country,” Keh further states.
Thus, the YLKD program was born. Students and young professionals answered the call of the World Bank and ASoG for leaders to participate in the program. Applications came in from as far as the University of Cordilleras in the Cordillera Administrative Region to Ateneo de Davao University in Mindanao.
“I applied for the YLKD program because it is a rare opportunity where young people who wish to make a good impact to society get to meet like-minded fellows as well as more established leaders,” Caranto says.
“It is the arena where hopeful changemakers can all pitch in and help one another achieve their aspirations for our country. Being a part of it is very promising.”
Darren Gonzales, a student from Araullo University in Nueva Ecija, believes that there is still hope for the Philippines in the youth. “I want to share what I have to my fellow changemakers.”
“Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People compels us to ‘sharpen the saw’ as a seventh habit,” Aksyon Kabataan National President Leon Flores thinks. “YLKD aids me in living out this habit. Joining [the program] is my way of taking advantage of an opportunity to learn fresh ideas, appreciate diverse perspectives and meet new partners for change.”
These young people will be part of the YLKD program for one year. Each month, they will get exclusive invitations to coffee sessions with Filipino experts on governance, business, environment, civil society and other fields. Provincial participants will also get to interact with the speakers via videoconference.
First event
On September 9, half of the participants, mostly Metro Manila-based students and young professionals, met each other for the first time in an intimate cocktails ceremony to formally open the program.
World Bank Governance Specialist Matthew Stephens gave the opening remarks for the event, presenting some challenges and opportunities that await young leaders. According to him, development remains a big challenge for the country because of corruption and this is where good leadership is crucial. “At the heart of good governance is good leadership. The role that the youth play in society now can be absolutely fundamental to leadership in the future,” Stephens had said.
“It’s like attending Ramon Magsaysay Awardees’ lectures for one year,” Matthew Chua, an architecture graduate, commented.
Former Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela, a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Government Service, was the guest speaker for the event, encouraging the participants to harness their power for the good of the country.
“[I call] on you to continue your efforts to study and understand what is happening in our country . . . I ask you, therefore, to care more, to get more involved especially in the task of enlightening our fellow Filipinos in your own spheres of influence and even beyond,” Padaca appealed to the youth in her speech. Padaca was the first speaker to address the participants, albeit in a more formal manner.
“We will invite more Filipino leaders to share their expertise and offer advice to our participants,” Senajon says. “Discussions will be more intimate where participants can really interact with the speakers.”
Flores shares his expectations. “[I look forward to] Competent and credible resource speakers, one glorious epiphany after another.”
The dialogues will also be an opportunity for older leaders to learn from the idealism and innovation of the youth. The sessions will be less of a forum or seminar type than a conversation among present and future leaders. Caranto adds, “I expect to meet a lot of wiser, more influential, and inspiring leaders to whom we can share our own ideas of good governance. I hope this will give us youth leaders a chance to convey useful ideas to veteran leaders who can help turn them into reality.”
Excitement and expectations
Elise Veloso, a member of the De La Salle University Student Council applied for the program after learning about it through her school. “I expected it to be very serious and academic in nature, but after the first meeting, my expectations has shifted,” she says. “I now expect that YLKD could be a good venue for exchanging ideas with a very diversified group and opening opportunities for us in a relaxed and conducive environment.”
“I expect realistic and practical approaches on how we can deal with the pressing problems and issues of the Philippines,” Gonzales shares. “I wish the program will teach us to take small steps yet can create significant changes and impact our own respective communities.”
The program aims to build further awareness among the youth about national and local issues. “How can they help share knowledge and ideas on development if they don’t know what the problems are?” Keh says.
Indeed, many of YLKD’s participants believe that the program will teach them the various issues of our country’s society, economy and more, as well as the ways that the youth can take part in the solution.
“I’m looking forward to be inspired more, to be more aware of the different problems of our society, to learn effective ways on how to deal with those problems, and to create a network with my fellow young leaders in order for us to do a project that is much wider in terms of scale and the difference that it can contribute to the society,” Chua says.
Today’s youth
Asked what they thought are the issues that Filipino youth are concerned with the most, the participants gave varied responses, a reflection of their diversity and their personal advocacies.
Flores believes that family still plays a huge role in the lives of Filipino youth. “We have to bridge the understanding or gap that the public sphere within which they evolve in impacts them and their families directly,” he says.
For Veloso, governance is only one among several issues that the youth today care for. “I can see that youth leaders today are learning to become more critical thinkers,” she believes.
Among the top issues given by the participants were education and employment, underscoring the root problem of poverty in the country. Because of the widespread poverty incidence in the country, education and employment remains two of the biggest national issues that the government needs to address. And the Filipino youth are starting to feel the effects, leading to either apathy or a passion to change things.
“Basically the Filipino youth care most about themselves and the achievements [in] education, career and ambition that they can get for themselves,” Chua states. “We cannot blame them for having this kind of mentality because it’s just a product of what they’ve learned from the environment that surrounds them and the traditional mindset being ‘programmed’ in them.”
He thinks that a lack of opportunities contributes to this kind of mindset of many young people. “It’s a sad thing because not all youth are given the chance to be exposed to the deeper kind of awareness for them to be actively involved in nation-building activities.” Given the right exposure and opportunity, the youth can be a force to reckon with when it comes to rebuilding our nation’s foundation.
Flores adds, “They said we are a generation wallowing in apathy and indifference. Through the power of text, we removed a corrupt president in Edsa 2. By being connected online, we connected with our unfortunate brothers and sisters displaced by [typhoons] Ondoy and Pepeng through [volunteer] relief operations. Heck, we came in droves!” he enumerates. “We have it innate in us to make a difference and be heroes in our own little ways and when the circumstance so warrants. We just have to demonstrate EDSA 2 bravery and Ondoy heroism on a day-to-day basis.”
With young leaders like the YLKD’s youth participants, we are sure to have something to look forward to in the near future. They may be young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, but the experience that they do have already allows them the right to engage older and wiser leaders and work with them to build a better nation.
“You can see the passion clearly burning in them,” Abrigo says. “Hearing them talk and speak out their opinion and enthusiasm on things especially on development issues makes me think and realize that there really is hope for our country and that the future is now.”
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