Dingdong Dantes: Let’s build a super nation, one empowered young Pinoy at a time

When we strive to be heroes by empowering not only ourselves, but also our families, communities and others in need, we, especially the youth, help build a Super Nation.

This was the message of actor and youth advocate Dingdong Dantes for the 10th Anniversary of the YesPinoy Foundation Inc. (YPF).

YPF is a non-government organization founded and chaired by Dantes on August 21, 2009 to help bridge resource gaps in education, and empower the Filipino youth on environmental stewardship and responsible citizenship.

Through a thanksgiving mass and a disaster preparedness training with students, teachers and volunteers at Cubao Elementary School, YPF looked back on its decade-long service to the Filipino youth.

“YPF started with our simple yearning to contribute and be of service to the country by educating, empowering and engaging the Filipino youth…through the years, we have witnessed how heroism uplifts lives and communities,” Dantes said.

The whole-day event gathered the Foundation’s family, friends and fellow advocates to pay tribute to its accomplishments that are made possible through passion, collaboration, and volunteerism.

“We reached this milestone because of the unwavering love, belief and support from our volunteers and partners and, for that, we are truly grateful,” YPF Executive Director (ED) Pebbles Sanchez-Ogang shared.

As part of its initiatives on education, YPF provides scholarship opportunities and participates in the annual Brigada Eskwela of the Department of Education (DepEd). In 2015, it turned-over a two-storey, four classroom building and donated 3,000 DepEd-accredited school chairs to Estancia Central School in Estancia, Iloilo, a Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda-affected municipality.

“The One Chair, One Child Project is a collaborative effort that gave hope and educational support to the students and the whole community of Estancia in Iloilo as they recover from the impacts of Typhoon Yolanda,” explained by YPF Trustee and Former ED Xavier Padilla.

YPF Former ED Elmer Argaño also said that since its inception, the Foundation has been a champion of environmental causes. Today, the Foundation has trained more than 31,000 young people and leaders on climate action, disaster preparedness and responsible citizenship; distributed more than 2,000 go bags and emergency kits; led 20 post-disaster programs; established around 300 partnerships with schools and communities; and inspired 14 regions in the country.

“YPF is honored to have been working with schools and localities towards their resilience to climate crisis and disasters…this will always be part of our advocacy,” added by Argaño.

Moreover, YPF is a partner to the government-led Not On Our Watch Philippines or #NowPH, a youth-in-climate action and disaster resilience movement that gathered 3.6 million signatures, exceeding its initial goal of one million, and generated a total of 221 million social media interactions, which were presented to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015.

The same initiative also led to the issuance of Presidential Proclamation No. 1160, declaring November 25 of every year as the “National Day for Youth in Climate Action”, and to the “ASEAN Youth in Climate Action and Disaster Resilience Day Declaration” observed every November 25. The movement also conducts annual Conferences of the Youth.

In 2017, anchored on a Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Experts Dialogue, YPF also launched I am Super that organizes disaster preparedness trainings in DepEd-identified public schools and distributes YPF Go Bags, which are emergency backpacks or sling bags with basic survival tools, first aid kit and learner’s materials.

The project also trained and provided bag-making livelihood to Typhoon Yolanda survivors through the social-enterprise Taclob. The partnership was able to employ differently-abled bagmakers too.

“We met different challenges but the YPF Family continues to explore areas where we can significantly help the Filipino youth,” opined by YPF Trustee and Former ED Joseph Aguilar.

Recently, YPF organized Project #BeScene, an international stunt action training program with the Stunt Association of the Philippines and the Seoul Action School-Korea. The project united the country's stunt community and proactively addressed the need to uplift the skills, safety and welfare of the entertainment industry especially of the new generation of stunt actors. #