COTABATO CITY (October 13, 2022) — Chairperson Marjanie Mimbantas Macasalong of the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) delivered the keynote speech during the opening program of the 2022 Philippine Young Leaders Convergence (PYLC) on Wednesday, Oct. 12, in General Santos City.
The 2022 PYLC is currently gathering youth leaders from all over the country to discuss and offer solutions to different challenges in a post-pandemic setting from Oct. 12 to 15. The program is intended for young leaders to take up space and create a diverse network where they can share and align together ideas and solutions.
Chairperson Macasalong said that youth leaders have always had the interest and desire to inspire change in their respective communities.
“Your power is our society’s most dynamic driving force – your courage, idealism, enthusiasm, and a wide array of meaningful potential,” Chairperson Macasalong said.
The establishment of the current Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), according to Chairperson Macasalong, was a result of the armed struggles of the youth in the past for self-determination.
“The Bangsamoro can now govern and decide for themselves – passing laws and resolution, especially for our people, and initiating programs that will surely benefit its constituents,” Chairperson Macasalong added.
In BARMM, more than 40% of the population comes from the youth.
At the end of the convergence, youth leaders will craft the 2022 Philippine Youth Agenda for Sustainable Development, to be proposed as a policy recommendation to various United Nations offices and national government agencies. The agenda forms part of the effort to help in advancing the 2030 Agenda in the Philippines in relation to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The BYC being a policy-making institution of BARMM, Chairperson Macasalong committed to pave the way to contextualize, and pass a resolution similar to the youth agenda. Chairperson Macasalong, who also serves as a Member of the Parliament, will lead in lobbying the agenda as a resolution to be adopted at the regional legislative level.
This year’s PYLC bears the theme “Makig-bisug, Kabatan-unan: Regenerating a youth cenrered Impetus towards Helping Achieving Sustainable and Inclusive Development Post-pandemic” was organized in support of the 2022 Global Goals Week. (BYC PR Unit/RMM)
