CDO Mayor Welcomes the Oro Youth Code Initiative

As part of the social contract signed with the coalition of sectoral leaders during the 2016 local campaign, the Oro Youth Development Council rolled out its #OroYouthCode initiative with sectoral core leaders. This is an advocacy and lobbying effort for the passage of an ordinance enhancing youth participation in local governance under the new SK Reform Law.

The City Mayor of Cagayan de Oro enthusiastically welcomed the initiative as a great step forward in inclusive governance. 

The main features of the proposed ordinance are: 

1. Creation of the Oro Youth Development Office

2. Institutionalization of the OYDC
3. Creation of Sectoral Chairmanship
4. Regularization of the Oro Youth Leaders Convergence
5. Appointment of alternative representatives to various city committees/bodies
6. Creation of youth sectors
(Taken on May 27, 2016)

ORO YOUTH CODE of 2016 Brief

With the passage of RA 10742, also known as the SK Reform Law, LGUs are encouraged to improve and broaden their youth empowerment initiatives through the creation of the Local Youth Development Council and the Office for Youth Affairs and mandatory training for its officers.

As a proactive move to maximize this opportunity and with our desire to make Cagayan de Oro a leading city for youth empowerment innovation, the core group of the OYDC (created by E.O. 72-2014) proposes this local legislation designed to enhance and maximize youth participation in local governance.

Here are its basic features:

1.     Creation of the Oro Youth Development Office. This office basically serves as the coordinating and monitoring office for local youth concerns as articulated in the local youth development plan and sits as the secretariat for the Oro Youth Development Council.

2.     Institutionalization of the OYDC. The OYDC would now be a formal body within the government structure. It is composed or 21 members as provided for in the SK Reform Law. The law further provides that the SK are only allotted two seats in the council. The 19 others are allotted for youth organizations and youth serving organizations (youth sectors). The ordinance seeks to implement a sectoral-based representation in the OYDC. Here are the allocations:

a.      Three (3) from the In School youth sector

b.     Three (3) from the out of school youth sector

c.      Three (3) from the faith-based youth sector

d.     Three (4) from the special advocacy based youth sector

e.      Three (3) from community – based youth

f.       Three (3) from cultural identity- based youth

g.      Two (2) from the SK

3.     Creation of the Sectoral Chairmanship – The SK Law Mandates that the SK President would chair the OYDC. By virtue of the principle of local autonomy, the ordinance wishes to create a co-chairmanship. The Sectoral Chairperson (SC) shall be elected from the 19 youth representatives in the OYDC who shall co-chair with the SK President. The (SC) can call a meeting but with the concurrence of the SK President. The SK President shall generally preside over the meetings. The SC will have a term of one year and such election will be held during the yearly Oro Youth Leaders Convergence.

4.     Institutionalization of the Oro Youth Leaders Convergence. – the ordinance mandates the yearly convergence of all youth organization in the city. This is the venue where the OYDC officers can report their accomplishments and draw out recommendations and partnerships from various youth stakeholders.

5.     Appointment of SK alternative representatives in the various city committees and bodies. – The ordinance allows youth representation in the various city committees coming from the SK and Sectoral representatives.  

6.    Creation of the various youth sectors:

a)     Out-of-School-Youth shall refers to all youth of school age, whether organized or not, who are unable to avail of the formal school system or who have dropped out from formal elementary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education.

b)    In-School Youth shall refer to all youth of school age, whether organized or not, presently enrolled with any educational, vocational institution, which include but not limited to the following school organizations (academic or non-academic), student government, fraternities and sororities;

c)     Special Advocacy-Based Youth shall refer to any youth organization whose primary purpose is to serve youth with special needs namely, youth with disabilities, youth in situations of armed conflict, victims of natural disaster and calamities, youth offenders, delinquent youth, LGBT youth, drug depended youth, street youth, abused/exploited youth and abandoned/neglected youth;

d)    Faith-based Youth shall refer to all youth organizations organized under the rules and regulations of a religious institution and recognize by such. Its members are also exclusive members of the said church/sect/religious denomination. 

e)     The Cultural Identity-based youth shall refers to youth organizations whose primary purpose is to advance the cultural identity of the Moro and Indigenous peoples.

f)      Community Youth Organizations shall refers to organizations whose majority of membership are youth and might be based in educational institution but whose program are not solely for educational advancement or may be community based whose members are not all out-of-school youth.

OYDC receives recognition from Simbahang Lingkod Ng Bayan

THIS IS GRACE. In behalf of all the leaders that compose the Oro Youth Development Council, I would like to thank the

Simbahang Lingkod Ng Bayan, the social involvement arm of the Society of Jesus for recognizing our humble efforts here in Cagayan de Oro City. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the EDSA 1 Revolution, various organizations who push the spirit of people power into the fields of governance and community work were recognized at the Ateneo on February 24, 2016. The award was received by the Vice-chairman and co-founder Sean Jared Roldan Lastimoso, a law student and community organizer.

Our effort here in Cagayan de Oro City is part of broader national effort of increasing people’s participation in governance and mobilizing young people to advocate and participate in the decision making process. We are very grateful of the openness of the local government unit and the fruitful partnerships we have established with the civil society organizations, the academe and the church. This has provided many youth organizational leaders with actual experience in committee meetings, outlining policy direction, protesting to some extent, and appreciating the over-all complexity of managing a society in the lens of local governance.

As we transition to the newly reformed Sangguniang Kabataan, we are very happy that our experience in CDO has contributed to the rich discourse in developing alternative modes of youth participation. I am just joyful that all the theories we learned in school and the ideals that we write in paper can actually be transformed into concrete work that can make a difference in the lives of people. AMDG

(Statement by Ernesto B. Neri, Chairperson of the Oro Youth Development Council) 

Search for ‘Most Child-Friendly Police Station’ on

THE Oro Youth Development Council (OYDC) launched on Monday its “Search for Most Child-Friendly Police Station” in pursuit of a creative partnership with the country’s law enforcement for a sustainable standard in relation to children’s rights and welfare.

Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., City Social Welfare and Development officer, said the search is in consonance with Cagayan de Oro’s distinction as one of the child-friendly cities in the country.

He said the endeavor of the OYDC to institutionalize the child-friendly distinction awarded to the city would encourage other government agencies to adhere to their standards and legal obligations mandated by both the domestic and international laws.

“The police as the first government institution that a child who is in conflict will first encounter, should be equipped with the standards on how to manage a delinquent child, and the their stations must be designed to accommodate them. It is in this context that public-private partnership is created to search and award police stations in the city that exemplifies child-friendliness not only in their operations but also in their physical design and interventions as mandated by law,” OYDC said in a statement.

Aside from OYDC, this project is made possible through the partnerships with the Kuya Fish Campaign, Kristohanong Katilingban sa Pagpakabana Social Involvement Office of Xavier University and the ABS-CBN Bata Foundation in the private sector, while the CSWD and the Department of Interior and Local Government representing the public sector.

The search would cover policy related areas such that whether a police station is compliant with child related laws, physical facilities, training of police officers, services, monitoring evaluation and research, and information and advocacy.

OYDC will announce and award the Most Child-Friendly Police Station on November 16.

3 Ways Local Government Units can maximize the New Sangguniang Kabataan

Like an unusual house party in installments, the SK reform advocates would party after each stage in the legislative process is secured in this seemingly slow-motion anti-climactic saga. The finish line means the enactment of the law. Now, we have come nearer to the finish line.

The other night, the House of Representatives approved in 3rd reading the SK Reform Bill. Facing 2nd reading is the toughest volley fire a bill has to face. If it survives, the third reading is seen as a mere formality and the law would swiftly breeze through a bicameral committee in order to reconcile the different versions of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Now going back to the bill, the basic features of the SK reform bill are the following: (a) the increase of age-bracket from 18-21 (b) the anti-political dynasty provisions (c) the mandatory training and skills training.

I do not wish to elaborate on the merits of the substance of the law and its wisdom. But I would like to draw an imaginative sketch of the opportunities each locality can reap once this bill becomes law of the land. I might be getting ahead of myself since after all it is still a bill. But I hope these points call help us desire and support the SK Reform.

1. The Academe and Civil Society can play a vital role in political formation.

The Academe and Civil Society Organizations (youth-serving) are essential stakeholders in the formation of future political leaders in the locality. Depending on their degree of community engagement, services from the academe and CSOs can be in the form of seminar-workshops, skills training, sharing of expertise/experience and mentorship appropriate for their age. Since the law does provide mandatory training, it would provide a fertile ground for private-public partnerships between the DILG, NYC in one hand and the NGOs and Private Institutions on the other.

Having a training conducted by non-government entities provide a valuable “third-party” perspective in governance. The academe as well can use its knowledge products to further form competent youth leaders.

2. The LGU can innovate through the creation of a youth council.

Setting our sight on Naga, a model of local good governance, we can see how their LGU was able to innovate the SK structure by creating a Youth Council. Through the Naga Youth Code, the first of its kind in the Republic, Naga city was able to mobilize other youth organizations and integrate them in the decision making process of the city.

The youth organizations are organized through sectors namely: In-school youth, out-of-school youth, professional youth, faith-based youth and youth with special needs. The SK Chairperson automatically sits as the chair of the council together with a yearly-elected Youth City Mayor as co-chair (reminiscent of the two consuls of the Roman Republic) who is chosen by the sectoral youth representatives. The Youth Code also mandates a yearly City-wide Youth Congress and election of sectoral representatives.

3. Weakening patrimonial bonds means an opportunity to build local ideology-based political parties

The combination of a deepening first-hand government experience and political education by the academe can sharpen and deepen the political consciousness of these SK leaders. This could help them do social analysis outside their bureaucratic experience and allow them see the differences between politics as a set of action based on principle from politics that is veiled with “ideas” but essentially formed to serve kin or family interests.

This gives them better appreciation of the consequences of their career choices. They could either fall into the same patronage trap our politics has been excellent in perpetuating, or choose alternative routes of public service such as grassroots ideology based movements and enter other progressive organizations.

Considering that a number of local politicians now are products of the SK system before, this is an opportune time to remake the SK to produce better, competent, innovative, systems-thinking leaders dedicated to build a true modern Philippine State.

These points I hope can bring in a new fresh spirit in how we build politics in the local-level. The product of our politics is felt most real and compelling in our own communities. If we could start building an army of progressive young leaders who are dedicated in building a modern city, we look forward to see our locality shining on top of a hill.