Youth Power in Growing Cities: 1st Year of OYDC

Today marks the first year anniversary of the constitution of the Oro Youth Development Council. It was exactly a year ago when youth leaders from different sectors in Cagayan de Oro City converged in the 1^st Oro Youth Leaders Convergence, articulated their concerns, planned their actions, and elected their core officers.

This social innovation project came at the most appropriate time. The Sangguniang Kabataan was suspended following years of debate about its relevance and viability. This suspension undoubtedly created a void in youth representation in our local governance processes. This came then as an opportunity for a small group of good governance advocates to propose a participatory mechanism where youth organizations from different sectors and fields can come together and directly exchange views and mobilize action on governance matters important to the youth.  

After a series of meetings with local government officers, the OYDC came to be with the election of the core officers and the issuance of Executive Order 72-2014.

This was the official start of an extra-ordinary journey. This leadership journey has led us to meaningful local policy victories, public recognition, and far-reaching partnerships with national agencies, NGOs and even international organizations. This experience, being also political in nature, became a social laboratory – a sort of on-the-job learning experience, which has allowed us to confront people in power and also partner with them in our developmental goals.  

In its 1^st year of existence, these are the major highlights of the Oro Youth Development Council:

Advocacy Forums/ OYDC Youth Speak: Much of the work of the OYDC centers around issue discussion among students and youth leaders. In the past year, we have organized forums which tackled the topics on the Freedom of Information Law, The Bangsamoro Basic Law, The Diversity of Human Rights: the LGBT Perspective, Youth and Leadership, Reproductive Health, Youth Political Education and Solid Waste Management. The OYDC sees that these discussion points are essential in raising the level of awareness among the youth. Actionable information would then lead to social mobilization among the different youth groups. These advocacy forums were made possible by the partnerships with different institutions such as the National Youth Commission, Ayala Foundation, Muslim Youth Council, Xavier University Governance and Leadership Institute, KKP-SIO, The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, the United Nations Development Program, Departmetn of Education, CLENRO, CSWD, City Health, and Office of the City Mayor among others.  

Local Policy Victories:  In this front, the OYDC has tackled 4 major issues.

The first one is the removal of the “physically-fit requirement” clause in the City Scholarship Program. This was removed to erase doubts that persons with disabilities are not eligible for the scholarship program.

Secondly, the OYDC also engaged the City Council in the approval of the Farm-to-Market road subsidy issue, which was marred by political controversy. Moreover, this gave us an opportunity to talk face-to-face with the Councilor tasked for this and both sides were able to layout their cards. The OYDC got media mileage over this engagement, which highlighted its status as a citizen advocacy group. The Farm-to-Market road subsidy was then approved late 2014.

Thirdly, the OYDC also barged into the forefront of the 2015 Budget controversy after the OYDC and PYAP programs were slashed to zero. The youth groups mobilized and protested the cuts early January which has brought resentment from opposing political groups but where joined and praised by community organizations, civil society and much of the organized youth sectors. This youth-led protest literally led the way for a series of protests designed to galvanize the public and pressure the city council to approve the proposed 2015 budget. However, the action in the streets now became a battle in the courts. We have yet to see the resolution of this controversy be it political or legal. In the meantime, OYDC has provided a blog site where the budget is posted and compared. It also published the full budget of the Special Education Fund.

Lastly, the OYDC drafted and championed the adoption of the Barangay Youth Code. This proposed legislation gave legal basis for the different youth barangay federations growing after the suspension of the SK. Major barangays have already adopted the ordinance and others are still in the process. This hopefully would highlight the important role of the youth in not only organizing events but in actual policy-making.

Representation: one of the key features of the OYDC is its participation in the different special bodies of the local government unit. At present, the OYDC is active in the Local School Boar, the Solid Waste Management Council, the Council for the protection of Children, the Search for Child-friendly Barangay, the Search for Best Barangay Lupon, Development and Security Council, the Abot Alam Task Force, Anti-drug Abuse Council, Persons with Disability Council and the Regulatory and Complaints Board.  Through these bodies, the OYDC gets direct access to policy-making and policy-implementation. The individual efforts of different youth organizations get amplified through this body and allows coordinated interventions. The OYDC also represented the youth sector in the United Nations Habitat and Future Cities program and other national conventions. It is also part of the board in the newly constituted People’s Council of Cagayan de Oro.

Services: the OYDC through its community networks also helped in referring out-of-school youth to scholarships and job openings. This is a yearlong activity. The Faith-based sector of the OYDC also integrated its faith formation and life coaching services to the City Scholarship program. During the two summers, the OYDC supervised and managed 125 SPES beneficiaries whose work included a community survey and service. In the community level, OYDC also gives capacity-building trainings as well as basic organizing skills to community-based organizations.

Moving Forward

Seeing the future, the OYDC sees its existence as a transitional body. 

The Local Youth Development and Empowerment Bill is set to replace the SK and once this becomes law, we shall transition to become a youth advocacy NGO. This bill is set to create a Local Youth Development Council which is similar to that of the OYDC. This body is composed of representatives from several youth sectors including the SK.

It removes from the SK the sole power to represent the youth sector in the legislative body. It empowers the body to elect a chairperson among themselves who has a one-year term. This chairperson ipso facto becomes the youth representative in the local legislative council. Therefore, a President of a student government or a leader of the Parish youth can become a local legislator for a year. This is more inclusive and empowering than the SK system we have grown accustomed to.

The OYDC fully supports the passage of this bill. In the meantime, the OYDC in its second year is gearing up to take on legislation lobbying. In the pipelines, the OYDC seeks to propose policies nurtured by the forums it organized during its first year. Among these are the passage of the Students’ Rights and Welfare Ordinance, the Anti-discrimination Ordinance and the Freedom of Information Ordinance.

Synthesis

In its first year, OYDC has somehow laid the impression that the youth, if given the formal opportunity to participate, can concretely contribute to the strengthening of our public institutions. The unfolding story of the OYDC hopes to serve as an alternative model for youth empowerment where existing organized youth groups, which are more cohesive, grounded and neutral, are given the tools to widen their advocacy and given a seat at the table of policy-making. In the long run, we hope that this can spur a culture of engaged citizenship among the young and a sense of communal ownership of the solutions as well as the challenges of the community. This is our attempt to make our public institutions more inclusive by giving a youth leader from a far-flung barangay an equal chance as a student leader from a university to sit at the table of policy-making. This is our attempt to make real the constitutional declaration that the youth is vital in nation-building. Let us all start with our local government unit – the closest to the people.