Youth groups set up 'online hub' for SONA

(Updated 2:29 p.m., 18 July 2013) Amidst preparations of effigies and speeches for various rallies that will take place during President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address, a youth group on Wednesday said they “saw no relevance” in the exercise of taking to the streets for the occasion.

 

Instead, they’ll have an online hub where they hope a hashtag will unite the youth.

 

“More than rallying, we have an avenue to air out our concerns, to educate the youth, to encourage discourse and to encourage youth to participate in the discussions,” said Gibby Gorres, representative of the National Anti-Poverty Commission-Youth and Students Sectoral Council (NAPC-YSS).

 

The online hub aims to crowdsource sentiments, as well as the youth’s initial reactions while they're watching or listening to the SONA. Gorres explained that the hashtag #youthsona will be used, and that the group hopes to produce a Youth SONA video after the event.

 

When asked why they decided an online hub will be more effective in reaching the youth, Gorres explained that social media removes location barriers.

 

“Most students will be in class during the SONA, not everyone can go to Batasan [ where the SONA will be held] but 99.99 percent of those aged 15-30 are online,” he explained.

 

Meanwhile, for Heart Diño, chairperson of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines-National Capital Region (SCAP-NCR) and former University of the Philippines Student Council chair, the idea of rallying is “irrelevant,” especially since the group was able to secure an appointment with Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte to raise their concerns on the government’s small spending on the youth.

 

“We don't really see na kung ano pa yung relevance ng rally, pero luckily, nabigyan kami ng audience so we don't have to do that. We maximized space, even before SONA pa, with this dialogue,” she said.

In a later text message to GMA News Online, Diño clarified that she was only referring to the upcoming SONA when she said that rallying was irrelevant for her group, because it had been able to get the appointment with Valte.

 

No youth budget?

 

NAPC-YSS and SCAP-NCR called on the government to spend more on the youth, so the youth in turn can become fruitful investments for the country. 

 

“Kung naniniwala sila na kasama ang kabataan sa nation building, mas bigyan dapat ng budget ang mga programang pangkabataan, para ma-reach nila yung potential nila. Dapat mamuhunan ang gobyerno sa kabataan, para yung kabataan mamunuhan din sa bayan,” Diño said.

 

To be able to properly fund programs fro the youth, the group called for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), more commonly known as the pork barrel of legislators, noting that their main tasks as lawmakers is to create laws, and not to implement programs.

 

“The government should explore other sources of funds such as the PDAF and debt payments to cover deficits in the financing of social services,” Gorres explained.

 

Additionally, the group also asked the government to revisit the Sangguniang Kabataan program, which has long been criticized as a breeding ground of corruption.

 

“The government should legislate reforms in the Sangguniang Kabataan. Fiscal policies governing the SK should be biased towards poverty alleviation,” Gorres said.

 

Lastly, the group recommended additional spending on youth health care, particularly in terms of reproductive health education, in the face of rising teenage pregnancies in the country.

 

“With the passage of the Reproductive Health Law, the government should formulate and implement a program on comprehensive sexuality education for young people,” he said. 

 

“Nakakalungkot na zero ang allocation ng Department of Health for teen pregnancies,” he added.

 

Letters to the President

 

To better illustrate the demands of the youth, Gorres and Diño said they will be delivering thousands of letters from the youth addressed to the President.

 

“Students from all over, from universities in Metro Manila, to those in Bicol and in Sultan Kudarat wrote to the President, to really tell him what they want to heppen in the last three years of his term,” Diño explained.

 

The students were reached through their own student councils. Some wrote in their own dialects, Diño added.

 

“These letters present the real sentiments of the youth on the grassroots level, dahil ito’y galing sa kabataan from all over the country,’ she said.

 

For her part, Diño’s request is simple: make the next three years about the youth. 

 

“I want the last three years in his term to be the time for the youth. Mamuhunan na kabataan, and make them our main priority for the last three years,” she said/

 

“Kasi kunyari, progressively increasing yung budget of education pero it’s not translating to results, the number of unemployed youth is still similar. Hopefully they respond constructively,” she added. — TJD/BM, GMA News