On Federalism
Young Leaders Learn about Federalism, Uniting to Build a Peaceful Nation and Youth Empowerment

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Seeking to build unity amidst diversity and to promote leadership in the youth sector, the young leaders camp gathered 79 students from various indigenous peoples, including Ayangan, Gaddang/Yogad, Igorot, Kalanguya, Kalinga, KanKanaey, Maguindanao, Meranaw, Subanen, Tausug, Tiboli and Tuwali, for four days of mental and spiritual stimulation, and physical invigoration. Their discussions with the speakers on concepts and ideas, such as commonalities, federalism, love of country, awareness, information, education and prevention of drug abuse, youth empowerment, were supported by mostly outdoor group activities that were designed to help clarify and reinforce the messages being conveyed.

One in recognising the youth as the future of the nation, speakers from different fields of specialisations shared personal messages of encouragement. Explaining about federalism to the youth, Senator Pimentel pointed out that the country’s adoption of the system of government and the proposed sharing of powers under the system can help acknowledge the different indigenous peoples in the country, through the recognition of the differences of the peoples reduce if not eradicate conflict, encourage competition and help pave the way for a more representative, community-driven and responsive government.

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Seeking to inspire the youth leaders to contribute to building a peaceful nation, Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman, founder of Teach Peace Build Peace Movement and advocate of peace and development through education, inter-faith, inter-cultural and inter-generational engagement, encouraged the youth that “It is in building a culture of peace that we can build generations of peace builders.”

The empowerment of the youth as change makers was the focus of the talk given by Senator Cynthia A. Villar, Chairperson of the Senate Committees on Environment & Natural Resources, and on Social Justice, Welfare & Rural Development. Senator Villar, also Managing Director of the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (SIPAG), intoned, “After attending this camp, you can be better citizens of the country, return to your communities imbued with the vision of national transformation, equipped with values and virtues to be effective catalysts of change.”

Other key speakers included: Commissioner Alex Brillantes of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), who reminded the youth of the vital role they play in nation-building; Fr. Reynaldo J. Adalid, OP of the University of Santo Tomas, who directed the attention of the youth to their commonalities and how they can draw strength therefrom; Dr. Reynaldo J. Echavez, President of Young Men’s Christian Association of Makati, Inc., who talked about the health hazards of substance abuse and shared ways the youth can say “No, thanks”; Ms. Pauline S. Bautista, Educator on National Training Service Program-Civic Welfare Training Service (NSTP-CWTS) at the UP College of Music, who helped the youth participants even better understand how unity is based on understanding and tolerance, and acceptance of differences; Mr. Felipe Y. Pestaño, Proprietor of Tompdeg Farm, who shared about the life and untimely death of his navy officer son, highlighting the strength of his faith and his courage to die for his country.

PILG Senior Fellows who also spoke were: Architect Roy Margarito T. Carandang, who underlined that the measure of one’s success is not in what one has tried to achieve but what one has tried to do best out of one’s own identity because in one’s identity is one’s purpose; Mr. Ricardo Flores, who challenged the youth participants to become servant leaders; and Ms. Coylee Gamboa, who arranged for the reading of select essays written by the participants, as part of the activities conceptualised to help them underline what they have learned, express how these are relevant to them and shared about how they planned to move forward with what they have learned.

Mindanao State University’s (MSU) Executive Vice President Macabangkit Ati gave an inspirational message while Pastor Hugh Nguyen, who headed the team of facilitators for the activity, led the inter-faith prayers with Professor Melba M. Agni, Assistant Director at the MSU-Marawi Senior High School, and Lead Facilitator, Camp Master George Rupero, gave the necessary pointers for the participants to navigate through the camp’s activities and the camp’s premises.

The camp was capped off with the singing of an original composition of the participants, Kabataan, Kapayapaan” (“Youth, Peace”), which was adopted as the ‘Batch Song’, and with the crafting of the ‘Batch Name’, “Agos ng Elmo (“Flow of Knowledge”), signifying the inundation of awareness and information the participants gained during the camp and which they will be sharing with others.

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The participants were given the opportunity to share their comments for every session and each activity, as well as their feedback for the four-day camp, whereby lessons learned were noted, suggestions for improvements given, further queries they may have for each of the speakers, conveyed and how the participants plan to take action on what they have learned, expressed.

During the final round of reflections, the participants openly shared their realisation and acknowledgement that, beyond their varied cultural and religious backgrounds, they are all Filipinos and need to work together to fulfill their visions. They recalled knowledge gained during the camp that they found particularly helpful, such as the values of servant leaders, their being peace builders and maintaining unity in diversity, reminiscent of a federal system of government, expressed readiness to echo what they had learned to their peers and their communities, and to work together towards improving their respective communities and building a better future for the country.

As a testament to strengthening partnerships and growing support for the development of the young leaders in the country, a record number of 79 students, the highest since the first edition, from various schools and colleges participated in the activity, which was organised by the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) with the support of the Philippine Society for Public Administration (PSPA), Mindanao State University (MSU), Metrobank Foundation, Villar SIPAG, Phillip’s Sanctuary and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF). The Batang Transformers Camp is usually held twice a year and a “reunion” of all the six batches of youth leaders is being planned for 2017.