YOUTH PARLIAMENT. Commissioner-at-large James Ceasar Ventura explains the first Ilocos Norte youth parliament in a press briefing at Fort Ilocandia on Thursday (Dec. 20, 2018). Also in photo is SK Federation President of Ilocos Norte Rafael Medina. (Photo by Leilanie Adriano)
LAOAG CITY—Sixty youth leaders from the 21 towns and two cities of Ilocos Norte gathered at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel for the first-ever Ilocos Norte Youth Parliament, a three-day extensive seminar workshop on how to craft resolutions and ordinances geared towards the development and welfare of young Ilocanos.
Spearheaded by the National Youth Commission in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the localized youth parliament on Dec. 20-22 aims to expose provincial youth leaders on the basic parliamentary procedures and how they can come up with measures addressing the specific needs of the youth in local communities.
For the first time, Commissioner-at-large James Ceasar Ventura, in his capacity as head of the NYC Committee on Governance, said the localized youth parliament is being brought to Ilocos Norte to give more opportunities to the Ilocano youth to also speak up for themselves.
“We all know we have good people to work with in the province and I’m happy we have a very active SK federation and youth organizations who are supportive of the program,” said Ventura who hails from Solsona, Ilocos Norte.
At the end of the program, the participants are expected to come up with at least three ordinances, highlighting the priority needs of the Ilocano youth concerning issues on health and environment; youth participation, social inclusion and equity; as well as education, employment and entrepreneurship.
“The output will be endorsed to the Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, particularly to the committee on youth and to the National Movement of Young Legislators-Ilocos Norte Chapter for appropriate action.
Ventura said that under the law, the NYC is mandated to convene a national parliament of youth leaders every two years but to ensure that all issues and concerns of the youth are covered, the NYC is reaching out to the provinces to introduce localized youth parliament and teach youth leaders about basic rudiments of drafting resolutions and ordinances that will be lobbied to concerned local legislators.
The Ilocos Norte Youth Parliament is co-organized by the youth-led Ilocos Norte Parliament of Youth Leaders and the Sirib Ilokano Kabataan Association. (PNA)
