YOUTH is the “critical period in a person’s

growth and development from the onset

of adolescence towards the peak of

mature, self-reliant and responsible

adulthood; comprising considerable

sector of the population from the age

of 15 to 30 years.”

With this definition, the youth is not

merely regarded as an age group but a

stage in a person’s development.

In 2004 , total youth population reached

23.4 M or about 29.3% o the total Phil.

Population of 82.7 M.

Overall, the priorities and challenges of

the youth revolve around their immediate

environment:

the self and their family

The articulated issues of the youth center

on health, education and employment

more specifically those related to sexual

risk behaviors, drug and substance abuse

and family dysfunctions

The vision of the youth is generally

centered on studies, work and need for

social and emotional security

Youth participation has hardly (if at all)

been raised as an issue or concern or

problem. Could it be more of

complacency? Indifference? Or

disenchantment?

POVERTY is the deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human person is entitled. Less access could mean lower participation, less

voice, hence powerlessness.

Five essential assets are human capital,

physical capital, natural capital, financial

capital, and social capital

Human Capital concerned with

Education and Health

Education Issues:

• declining participation rates

• poor quality

• low cohort survival rates

For every 100 children in the Philippines

who start grade 1, only 67 will complete

elementary schooling

This rate is even lower for the poor

In ARMM, for every 100 children who

start elementary school only 34 finish

The results of the national achievement test for SY 2004-2005 indicated that our

senior public high school students posted an average of only 46.80%, and

grade 6 pupils, 59.73% only

Those families whose head has little or no education at all are generally poor.

But the largest proportion of our population has had elementary

schooling.

This contributes to about 35%

Health Issues:

• A very high incidence of tuberculosis—

ranked 8th in the world by the World

Health Organization (WHO)

• Poor quality and inaccessibility of

public health care services

• High costs of medicines

Education and health are closely correlated. Ex. Mothers who are participating in Barangay health

programs, therefore properly informed on nutrition are able to breastfeed their infants, observe sanitation and able to

feed their children better

Physical Capital

Concerned with:

• water

• housing / shelter

• infrastructure services such as

energy, transport

and communication

Government housing assistance programs

have barely reached the poor, for a

variety of reasons

• a lack of information on assistance

programs and how to access them

• eligibility requirements that

discriminate against the poor

• an emphasis on mortgage finance

Natural Capital

In rural areas, access to land is one of the

main determinants of welfare

Poor environmental conditions adversely

affect human capital, growth, and

distributional equity

Concern for clean air is imperative

Forest cover has been reduced to less

than one fifth of total land area. Logging,

mining, and encroachment of settlements

in critical watersheds are all to blame

Social capital comprises the social

resources on which people are able to

draw, through networks and

connectedness and relationships of trust

and reciprocity

Family, friends, social and community

organizations

To promote increased participation in

development processes through

membership in local and community

organizations

Financial capital denotes the financial services available to the people thru savings, credit, wages, pension and

forms of remittances

Because of this, access to easy credit is an important part of the consumption of

the poor. Microfinance is one such avenue

The Philippines is the 3rd highest

recipient of remittances in the world

The reality is: Those families whose main source of income is foreign

remittances from a spouse or relative abroad, are largely based in urban areas

Remittances are often utilized in excessive consumption instead of re

channeling them to pro-poor programs e.g. investing in business that gives

employment to the poor members of the community

Causes of Poverty

• weak macroeconomic management

• employment issues

• high population growth rates

• an underperforming agricultural sector

and an unfinished land reform agenda

• governance issues including corruption and a weak state

• conflict and security issues including criminality, law and order

• disability

In 2003, the annual national relative poverty threshold was P 85,000.00 per family or P 17,000 per capita. While rate of family income increased from

2000 to 2005, the real income failed to meet adequately family subsistence needs. Generally, the family income

can hardly cope with inflation

The disabled in the country is estimated to have reached 8 M. Disability is cause of poverty. Poverty causes disability

Importance of investments in

human capital

• Adequate skills and knowledge

• Good health

In assessing poverty situations, we also look beyond income. Gender and age

are related issues

In May 2000, our population was recorded at 76.5 M; in July 2005, it is

estimated to have reached 87.5M, or an annual 2.30% growth rate over the past

5 years

Ours is an overwhelmingly young population. In 2000, the recorded

median is 21 years old. A quarter of the population is below 9 years old. 60% of the female population belong to the 15

to 49 year-old bracket

Education is not merely an accumulation

of knowledge

• able to discern

• weigh things

• evaluate

• to be sensitive

• to be aware/conscious

to decide well and

RESPOND THROUGH

RESPONSIBLE ACTION

EVERYTHING THAT WE LEARN SHOULD

BE ABLE TO LEAD US TO ONE DIRECTION

— SERVICE

All these human – economic, social

issues are NOT mere problem situations

but

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

Education, whether public or private, forms not just individuals but a whole

nation

Through these schools, what kind of citizens, or better yet, what kind of

persons do we want our children and youth to become, in effect, also asking,

what kind of nation do want to be?

Academic education allows us to be “magaling”

But real education enables us to be “mabuti”

PERSONHOOD CAN COME FROM A SENSE

OF BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY

WHERE EACH ONE IS ACCEPTED AS A

FULL MEMBER

FREE TO BE ONESELF… TO CREATE, TO

PARTICIPATE, TO EXPRESS ONESELF, TO

RECEIVE, TO SHARE, TO ENCOURAGE

CHURCH OF THE POOR

• A CALL TO CONVERSION

• A CALL TO A LOVE OF PREFERENCE

FOR THE POOR

• A CALL FOR LEADERS AND MEMBERS

TO GIVE TIME AND

ATTENTION AND GENEROUSLY SHARING

RESOURCES IN ORDER TO ALLEVIATE

POVERTY

• A CALL FOR US TO TEACH

• A CALL TO BOLDNESS IN THE DEFENSE

OF THE POOR

• A CALL TO HUMILITY AND SIMPLICITY

WE CANNOT MEET GOD ALONE

Spirituality is not only personal

but societal

SENSITIVITY

Immerse in God through prayer and

communal action

For personal reasons: It affects me, and my family also

We are Agents of Change - need to improve my community

We are Social Advocates - more than just Philanthropy

I am my Brother’s Keeper - the real sense of Charity

• Duty as elected official

• Duty as a citizen

• Duty as a child of God

• Duty as steward of God’s creation

• WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH

OTHER

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

“I tell you, whenever you did this for one

of the least of these brothers of mine,

you did it for me”

YOU ARE NOT JUST THE NEXT BATCH OF

LEADERS

YOU ARE THE NEW BREED OF SERVANTS