MANILA — Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has advised more than 1,000 Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) officials in the city to have a vision for the youth in their communities.
“This is what I want to impart to you, that you must be able to have a vision for the country. You’re not just an SK. Dapat meron kayong pananaw, ano ba ‘yung gusto nating maging (You should have a vision, on what you would want to be), in the next years. Gagawa kayo ng (You will make a) five-year plan kung paano n’yo ii-involve ang mga kabataan sa nation building para maging bahagi sila sa pagtatatag at pagpapalakas ng ating bansa (on how you will have the youth get involved in nation building so that they will be part in the stability and strengthening of our nation),” Bautista said in a statement Wednesday.
The officials from SK chairperson to kagawads (councilors), who will assume their respective posts on July 1, 2018 across the 42,036 barangays (villages) nationwide, should make plans for programs and projects that are worthwhile, beneficial and knowledge-driven, the local chief executive said.
“Something worthwhile na project. Hindi ‘yung porke’t may pondo kayo, palaro na lang tayo nang palaro, pagawa tayo ng ganyan, hindi. (Not that you have funds, you just focus on sportsfest, project like that, no.) Something that they will cherish in the future. Ok lang ang sports (The sports is just okay), cultural activities but you have to think of something that will benefit your constituents,” Bautista said before the SK officials who took their oath of office over the weekend at the Amoranto Performing Arts Theater.
The city government will help SK officials make significant projects by providing them with trainings and lectures on Public Administration and Urban Planning in University of the Philippines, Environmental Management in Miriam College, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at the National Defense College for three months.
After the series of trainings, Bautista told the SK officials that they will also go on a foreign academic trip to Singapore to learn best practices that can be applied to their communities.
“Pupunta tayo ng (We will fly to) Singapore from SK chairperson to kagawad para makita natin kung paano sila nag-develop (so that we will learn how they developed). From there, makikita natin na kaya pala natin basta ito lang ang vision natin, ito lang ang dapat nating gawin (we will learn that we can do it but this is just our vision, this is just what we should do),” he said. (PNA)
