Let's Join Our Hands for Nature

 

 

Our Natonal Hero Dr. Jose Rizal stated “ang Kabataan ang Pag asa ng bayan.” The Youth is the hope of our land. Like most of our heroes, they are catalyst and forefront of change in our society but this is also a sector of our country that is neglected, used and abused.

 

Youth participation in Nation Building was the focal point when they promoted the Youth Movement in the Philippines Kabataang Barangay in April 15, 1975 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 684. The decree provided for the organization of KB units in the 42,000 barangays all over the country with the purpose of giving the youth a definite role in community affairs . The first KB election was held in 1975 . The second was the KB election on May 26, 1980 which I participated in, with about 3 million Filipino youth ages 15 to 18 years old. This has given me the opportunity to serve our community as a youth chairman or Kabataang Barangay Chairman in San Antonio Village Makati. I remembered praying to Santo Niño the night before and asked Him to help me win that election and He answered my prayers.   I won by a margin of one vote and It became a challenge to me and became a commitment, a new meaning of life.

 

 

As a youth chairman, you become an ex-officio member of the local community council having the same rights and privilege accorded to them. This enables the youth to participate in program planning and to vote on ordinances and resolution deliberated in their barangay.

 

Each Chairman elects among themselves to form a KB Federation officer that chairs different committees that will head in preparing programs and projects in each barangays as what we have in Makati.

 

The KB Federation President becomes a Councilor or a board member as a Youth representative to the City, Municipal and/ or the Provincial government. There are also what we call KB school chapters that are formed to address the needs of students in the country.

 

 

During that time, Kabataang barangay was allocated funds as mandated in the local government code. Unfortunately, some youth council cannot use this as it was not being implemented in some localities. In our community, funds are taken from the community sports development fund. It took us some time before the funds were finally allocated in our respective community. In some communities they have no funds at all. Actually all resorted to have fund raising projects in each barangay. We have projects on cultural development like Himig ng kabataan, dulaang KB, sports programs like basketball and volleyball tournaments, fun run, anti- drug abuse seminars. Based on the needs of the youth they have come up with projects for out-of -school youth (the Batarisan Program). Some of these programs can be found in one of the Program Manual of the Kabataang Barangay.  

 

Here are just some of the programs that we have in our community.

 

During the Kabataang Barangay days we have our training at Mt. Makiling. We were given lectures on leadership, parliamentary procedure, Some of our speakers were noted nationalist leaders Like Ka. Luis Taruc, Nilo Tayag and other leaders who shared their life stories , struggles and their views about the role of the youth in our society

 

 

After our term of office I continued to get involved with the organization as a Kabataang Barangay staff under the Office of the President and was assigned as KB assistant coordinator. We were given seminars on Filipino Ideology and tasked to be a facilitator for the newly elected Federation presidents training in Mt Makiling called Camp September 21^st.

 

KB leaders were trained in this camp like Mayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon City. Presidential Candidate Gibo Theodoro among others.

 

This is the last picture taken from the KB National Office in 1986. The start of EDSA Revolution

 

After EDSA revolution the Kabataang Barangay office was abolished. Local Government was in limbo on what to do next. Some local government had conducted their youth election using a different name while some continued to follow the provision of the local government code. This issue was finally settled upon a ruling of a judge in Makati RTC and was called upon by the Judge during this deliberation   .

 

As time flies KB rallied in streets to voice out their national sentiments,”Youth participation in local government!”

 

Few years later Iwent back to work in the government as a legislative staff officer of Councilor Raul Oloy Javier also a former KB chairman in Makati.. He told me, we could do more for the youth and let us start here in the City council. His priority project was to provide a sport facility in all the communities of Makati. We had lined up programs with the Presidential Council on Youth Affairs by initiating the first Presidential Summer Youth program and the Ship for Southeast Asian Interaction with Local youth program.

 

On his second term of office, we focused on the issue of environment where we created the Task Force on Solid waste management. As we continued to work on programs for the youth and the environment in our own little way, we were actually helping change our country. That is the true transformation, initiating the change within the government.

The hope of reviving youth participation came with the creation of the new local government code by Senator Pimentel. Working for many weeks, we monitored every move in the senate as they voted for the creation on the Sangguniang Kabataan . Our KB file in Makati was shared as legal notes in this deliberation.. DILG legal officer and PCYA was truly instrumental in this passage. Fast forward, I was chosen to be part of the SK trainors for the Newly elected officers. Makati had their first Sangguniang Kabataan Leadership training in Corregidor headed by SK President and present Mayor of Makati Jun Jun Binay.

 

 

 

With Youth Commissioner Sarge Colambo.

 

This is also the time that the young Councilors created the National Movement of Young Legislators and our office was part of the preparatory committee.

Youth was my life. Youth involvement expanded to Parish Youth Council, Rotary – Rotaract, and YMCA. We need to help the youth shape their future. This is just my story. At present there are numerous KB and SK chairman sitting in the city council, mayors, governors, congressmen and national leaders serving our country sharing their time and talent. KB council leaders are also seen around the world in different fields making names that we can be proud of. The government should invest on our youth leaders , the hope of our country. They need to rise from a traditional politician Trapo that is exposed from too much corruption. Let us give them moral guidance so that they would truly serve our youth and not just seek for their own benefits . Inspire them to be like Our National Heroes willing to sacrifice to be the hope of our motherland. This is my voice noon Hanggang Ngayon.

 

Makialam! Our speakers told us that we need to do something as a youth and let this be our legacy for our children and for the next generation. Did my share and this is my story.