Undersecretary Celia Yangco declared officially open the 2^nd National Philippine PAG-ASA YOUTH ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (PYAP) Summit Tuesday, May 17 in formal ceremonies held at the Gymnatorium of the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) in Catarman, Northern Samar.

Yangco told the regional federation officers and other selected members of PAG-ASA youth associations nationwide – “kinakaya niyo ang mga problema ng sambayanan” (you are bearing the burdens or ills of society); thus appealing for more volunteers to join in the DSWD’s convergence strategy program for poverty reduction.

The visiting official is one of those who conceptualized the PYAP because, as Director Leticia Corillo of the DSWD Field Office Eight describes in her introduction of the Undersecretary, “she is a pioneer in the Department’s Youth Welfare Program.”

Part of her agenda was also to meet with local government unit (LGU) – youth service providers and DSWD – youth focal persons whereby she emphasized the need for the youth to be “empowered” so that they themselves will “engage the LGU to act.” “They have to help themselves; they have enough wisdom,” Yangco said.

In said gathering, she cited the PYAP Ormoc City federation for being a mass-based organization. Said Robert Ablen, the youth service provider of said city, the local federation is represented down to the barangay level. He mentioned that the Sanggunian Kabataan is in close partnership with their PYAP chapter, and that the city government allocates funds for youth programs and extends educational assistance, computer education, among others.

“Without support, PYAP can’t exist,” the Undersecretary said, clarifying on the issue that the local government unit can appropriate funds for youth development for more than the required appropriation of five percent. “That is the call of the local government unit, in keeping with the principle of local autonomy,” she said.

Yangco then encouraged local government units to come up with innovative strategies for the good of the youth in their respective localities.