Pinoy youth leaders fly to Japan for 10-day meet

MANILA, Philippines — Twenty-two Filipino youths took off for Japan Tuesday to represent the Philippines in the Japan East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths Program (Jenesys Program). The Japanese Embassy said the program will involve representatives from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, and East Timor. "From April 14 to 23, the Filipino delegation consisting of 20 students, aged 16 to 18 years old, with strong leadership skills chosen from across the country and their two supervisors, will participate in leadership workshops and interact with other youth leaders from Asean 10 countries, East Timor and Japan. They are expected to exchange ideas, foster mutual friendship, appreciate the diversity of each other's culture and form a shared vision for Japan and the ASEAN region as future leaders of their countries," it said. Upon arrival in Japan, the students and supervisors are paired and joined with other pairs from their Asean 10, East Timor and Japan counterparts. They will form 10 groups that will be assigned to 10 prefectures in Japan, including Hokkaido, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Shimane, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. After an orientation in Tokyo, they will participate in various activities such as school visits, home stay and interact with the Japanese people during their stay in Japan. Before leaving, the delegates made a courtesy call to Ambassador Makoto Katsura at the Japanese Embassy, and attended pre-departure orientation at the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Hotel. "We are really grateful for the rare chance and opportunity to be part of this program. This is the most memorable experience of our lives and we hope that this program will bring success for the future of our generation," said Jay Mohammad Ryan Aquino, one of the Jenesys ambassadors. Isagani Galsim, the head of the Philippine delegation, also conveyed his appreciation to the Government and people of Japan. “After seeing the photos and videos about Japan during the orientation, everybody is excited to experience firsthand the beauty and wonders of Japan. What is more important is we learn to appreciate each other's culture through actual exchange with the Japanese people as well as our counterparts of other delegations, thus contributing to building the solidarity within our regions to tackle with our common issues," he said. The "ASEAN 10 + East Timor Joint Program" is a new program launched this year implemented under Jenesys. Another forthcoming Jenesys program, the “10-Day Visit Japan Program" which was first implemented in 2008, expects to involve 200 Filipino youths in May 2009. The Japanese government proposed and launched Jenesys to promote mutual understanding and strengthen solidarity among Asian countries through youth exchange. Since its formal launch and implementation in the Philippines by the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with the National Youth Commission (NYC) of the Philippines and the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) in May 2008, nearly 300 youths from the Philippines have visited Japan under the program. - GMANews.TV