Acknowledgement

Writers: Ivan Emil LabayneJulius Ceasar Daguitan Tracy Ann Dumalo Paola Monica EspirituMia Butoeg

Photo Contributors:Hazel Joy AltamarinoPaola Monica Espiritu Emmanuel Bonn Taguba

Layout:Pamela PeraltaCielo Marie BaysonLevi Glen Ingente

Editors:Marifel MacalandaKeidy Transfiguracion

SUMMIT SECRETARIATGene TejadaFinela MejiaKeidy TransfiguracionPaola Monica EspirituLee BiscarraReyzell SantosAdrian Galang Teresa Manglicmot-PanemFaith ForagMichelle SantosRaia Dacanay Mia ButoegJulius DaguitanCielo Marie BaysonNino OconnerTracy Ann DumaloMarvin PalansiguiHazel Ann IponaLevi Glen IngenteKing Cris PulmanoTristan FerrerFlorence KangMiguel Patrick CerezoIvan Emil Labayne

This are the proceedings of Think Change 2: The North Luzon Youth Summit conducted last January 26-27, 2013 at Teacher’s camp, Baguio City.

This includes pictures, workshop results and the North Luzon Youth Agenda. Kindly use proper citation when using publication.

For queries contact cordillerayouthcenter@yahoo.com.ph or 446 2106

All Rights Reserved 2013.

February 2013

Last January 2010, the First Northern Luzon Youth Summit was organized in Baguio City. Dubbed as “Think Change”, it was attended by around 300 delegates from all over Northern Luzon. Think Change is a call on today’s Filipino youth to actively partake in influencing history and in the social transformation as way to contribute to nation building. It was also in time for the 2010 philippine elections, where the youth is en-couraged to be involved in leading and exercising good governance as a way to create meaningful changes needed by the country. As result of this 1st summit, wider unity among young people created the youth agenda for the 2010 elections, solidarity was built through continuous links and networking, youth organizations and networks were established and most of the delegates continued to conduct and support campaigns related to their concerns.

After two years, youth delegates from Northern Luzon will once again gather to review the realization of their visions in the First Think Change event in 2010. Think Change 2 intends to raise the capacity and the appreciation of the youth on their role as change makers and concretize their aspirations and ideas. Think Change 2 aspires to advance the capacities of the youth by discussing concerns and strategies and making concrete actions in the promotion of a clean, peaceful and honest elections as a preparation to the 2013 Philippine Elections.

There are two (2) important components of Think Change 2. The first is the 2nd North-ern Luzon Youth Summit which will happen on the first day of the event. The summit will gather around youth all over Northern Luzon to participate in discussions on is-sues pertinent to the youth such as the environment, education, human rights and good governance. Delegates will be divided into workshop groups for them to have space for their ideas and voices heard. At the end of the summit, a youth agenda on these pertinent issues will be formed and submitted to concerned agencies and political can-didates for the 2013 Philippine Elections. This will be followed by a parade and concert at People’s Park.

The second component is the Cordillera Youth Caucus which will happen on the second day of Think Change 2. This will gather around indigenous youth from the 6 provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Baguio City. This aims to gather and document the particular issues of the indigenous youth and come up with concrete so-lutions. At the same time, updates and plans on the filed petition letter to President Be-nigno Aquino III and the Congress by the Cordilleran Youth on budget cut to education and the proposed 300% increase in tuition fee in the State Universities and Colleges of CAR will be discussed. Likewise, there will also be a discussion and planning on the updates and the continuing vilification of students and youth in CAR.

IntroductionThink Change 2: The North Luzon Youth Summit

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The Participants

Delegates of Think Change 2 during the opening ceremonies last January 26. Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Members of the Mt. Province Youth Association rendering a cultural presentation.Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Delegates listening to the keynote address given by Einstein Recedes of Kabataan Partylist.Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Delegates tackling problems, issues and recommendations in the human rights workshop.Photo by Marifel Macalanda

Delegates from Ilocos and La Union rendering their cultural perfor-mance.Photo by Marifel Macalanda

Members of Dap-ayan ti Kultura iti Kordilyera leading the unity dance for the creation of the Youth Agenda.Photo by: Hazel Joy Altamarino

Delegates of Think Change 2 during the Unity March at Bonifacio Road, Baguio City.Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Coming from the unity parade, the delegates settled at Malcolm for the free concert.Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Masters of ceremonies Marvin Palan-sigui and Katrin Hazel Hipona at the Kabataan Partylist photo booth.Photo by Paola Espiritu

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The Summit Proper

Summit delegates pose to junk the Cybercrime Prevention Act

Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Delegates from La Union during the Unity March

Photo by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson of Barangay South Central gives the welcome remarks. Photo by Emmanuel Bonn Taguba

Einstein Recedes of Kabataan Par-tylist gives a presentation on the education situationPhoto by Marifel Macalanda

Santos Mero, spokesperson of Amianan Salakniban presents the environmental threats in CagayanPhoto by Marifel Macalanda

Ruel Caricativo, public information officer of CHRA before his human rights presentationPhoto by: Marifel Macalanda

Regional Caucus- Delegates from Baguio reporting on issues of the youth in the cityPhoto by Hazel Joy Altamarino

Delegates from Ifugao answers the question on political villification in IFSUPhoto by Hazel Joy Altamarino

DKK Chairperson Maty Camfili facili-tating questions during the Cordil-lera Youth CaucusPhoto by Hazel Joy Altamarino

BAGUIO CITY- Almost 200 delegates from all over North Luzon gathered last January 26-27, 2013 for Think Change 2: The North Luzon pledged to use their right to vote for change and social trans-formation.

Think Change 2 gathered different youth organiza-tions from the regions of Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley to build solidarity within them and discuss issues be-ing faced by the sector in different areas. Partici-pants include different student councils, campus publications, student or-ganizations, geographi-cal organizations, stu-dent political parties, and community based organi-zations.

Keynote: the condition of the youth is a condition for dissent

Einstein Recedes of Ka-bataan Partylist deliv-ered the keynote address where he elaborated on the various issues of the youth from their schools, to their communities and

the workplace. As the per-ennial problem faced by the students in schools, Recedes emphasized the yearly escalating tuition rates and miscellane-ous fee increases, along with the redundant fees. The rate of unemploy-ment and its aggravation by the lack of jobs cre-ated that is suitable to the needs of the country also got attention in the keynote speech. Also, he added violations of the civil and political rights committed to the youth, aside from violations of their right to education and decent employment. A highlight of this is the continuing political vili-fication of progressive youth organizations that justly advances the inter-ests of the sector in their different areas of life.

Recedes’ booming con-clusion includes the ex-hortation that given these existing conditions that are meant to stifle the energies of the youth, the youth has no better op-tion than to keep on act-ing together and continue expanding their ranks in

order to register a louder voice of dissent. In this venture, the youth should bear in mind the tripartite modes of engagement that they should follow as a more effective way of confronting their issues: arousing, organizing and mobilizing. After that Einstein Re-cedes, secretary general of Kabataan Partylist gave words of inspira-tion to the Northern Lu-zon youth. He gave im-portance to the role of the youth in the 2013 elections. He challenged the participants to start making change by vot-ing for people who has a pro-youth, pro-people platform and has been proven in public service. According to Recedes, the youth has the responsi-bility to vote, guard the vote by volunteering as poll watchers, and lead in the larger majority in terms of scrutinizing po-litical candidates. “Meron tayong magagawa, kung tayo ay sama-samang kikilos na magsusulong ng pagbabagong panlipu-nan,” says Recedes.

Invoking and at the same time recasting Rizal’s hackneyed proposition on the youth as the hope of the nation, Recedes ended his speech with a stirring recommendation: kabataan, ‘wag nang hin-tayin ang kinabukasan, maging pag-asa ng bayan, ngayon!

Different workshops and the building of the North Luzon Agenda

In the afternoon session of the summit’s first day, the participants were divided into three work-shop groups according to three identified issues: education, human rights and environment. The workshop groups initi-ated a sharing of expe-riences among the del-egates in order to specify the issues of the youth in specific communities and ultimately to map sys-tematic steps that can be taken to respond to the issues rose.

As the three groups gath-ered back together, they crafted what will later be called as the North Luzon

North Luzon Youth Forge Unity for FREEEDOM (Fight for Education, Employment, Environment and Democratic Rights)

Pictures of the opening ceremonies of Think Change 2: The North Luzon Youth SummitPhotos by Hazel Joy Altamarino

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From left to right:1)Open forum with the panel presentors2)Break time during the youth summit 3)Delegates from La Union at the concert

Photos by: Hazel Joy Altamarino Marifel Macalanda

Youth Agenda which is comprised of the particular demands of the youth to the candidates for the mid-term elections. As a ma-jor bloc in the population of the society, the youth agenda is underlined by the framework that the is-sues of the youth, crafted by the members, should be a priority among the can-didates. The youth should make use of their compris-ing more than half of the registered voters in order to call attention to their de-mands. As these demands were articulated after the thorough discussions and sharing of actual experi-ences of the delegates in the Summit, there is noth-ing but the collective inter-est of the youth hankering for a better nation and a better future.

Highlighting the North Lu-zon Youth agenda is the assertion of the right to education which includes the scrapping of the 300% ladderized tuition fee in-crease in the Cordillera State Universities and Col-leges. This is extended as a critique of the govern-ment’s moves to commer-cialize education as mani-fested by the decreasing

state subsidy and its en-couragement of SUC’s to be self-sufficient and to welcome income-gener-ating projects and private tie-ups. Also, the right to decent employment is raised. This includes the creation of jobs that square with the abilities and edu-cational attainment of the youth and more vitally, jobs that attune with the conditions and the needs of the country. Implicitly lambasted is the burgeon-ing of labor migration which is only a result of the lack of jobs and the inhu-mane pay of workers in the country. The defense of hu-man rights, including the right to a safe and health-ful environment also got into the list of concerns of the youth. The vilification of legitimate youth organi-zations, the militarization of campuses and commu-nities, the cutting of trees in Luneta Hill to give way to a parking space – all of these were condemned by the North Luzon youth and which they pledge to con-tinue acting against.

Bringing back the 70s and the challenges ahead

The first day was culmi-

nated with a unity parade along Session Road and the City Market with the participating organizations bringing on their banners and their funky 70s at-tire. In fostering the spirit of the First Quarter Storm during the Marcos regime, the 70s theme was upheld to showcase the youth’s continuing commitment to be involved towards the betterment of the society. Several bands and cultural groups such as Salidum-may, Kultura and Maxim performed along with the delegates from each prov-ince.

In the last day of the Sum-mit, the delegates were grouped according to their province and then shared the specific issues in their communities. The entire Summit was capped by the formation of the alliance called FREEDOM (Fight for our Right to Education, Employment, Environment and Democratic Rights) which will serve as the co-ordinating body among the provinces and the various organizations as the col-laborate in resolving all the issues brought up in the two-day activity. The individuals and member

organizations of the alli-ance are also expected to broaden the network by propagating its ideals and garnering more members.In conclusion, the 2013 Think Change North Luzon Youth Summit proved to be a success with the del-egates it was able to con-vene in order to discuss the pressing issues the North-ern Luzon youth faces and more importantly, set out concrete plans of actions as a response to these is-sues. This only evinces that today’s youth remain adamant in thinking about change and are even more strong-minded in acting specifically to foster every possible kind of change in their respective communi-ties.

From left to right: Delegates of the youth summit during the education and environmental workshop. Photos by Marifel Macalanda

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We are at a situation where many are still hun-gry, rights are violated, voices are not heard by the few ruling elite class-es of our society. Politics is still in the hands of the few ruling elite, political dynasties and families. These are the continuing challenges that need to be addressed. KATRIBU believes in the

capacity, strength and leadership of the Fili-pino youth. As we have said, the youth has done their significant roles through different forms. By this time, we can once more prove to his-tory that we, the youth, can lead our ranks to achieve our goal for politics of change as a way to achieve a just

society. Let us strive for clean, honest and violent-free elections.Together with KATRIBU Indigenous Peoples Par-tylist, let us push forth our common aspirations for politics of change. Let us be one in chang-ing this society into a better place for every Filipino.To everyone, thank you

very much for this op-portunity for KATRIBU to be with you and again congratulations in con-ducting this significant event.Agbiag dagiti kabataan!Agbiag ti KATRIBU!

The Organizers would like to thank the following:

Major Sponsors:

RDC-KADUAMI Inc.Bengao, Baguio City

CORDILLERA PEO-PLES ALLIANCE#55 Middle Fergu-son Road, Baguio City

HON. PETER FIANZACommittee on Education, Cul-ture and Historical ResearchBaguio City

HON. KARMINN CHERYL DAYTEC-YANGOTSangguniang Kabataan Fed-eration President

HONORABLE MAURICIO DOMOGANMayorBaguio City

PHILIPPINE TASK FORCE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLESBaguio City

KATRIBU INDIGENOUS PEO-PLES PARTYLIST

AMIANAN SALAKNIBANNorth Luzon Network for Hu-man RightsBaguio City

CORDILLERA HUMAN RIGHTS ALLIANCE- KARAPATANBaguio City

LASER MARKETINGGeneral Luna RoadBaguio City

IGOLOT FOOD SERVICES

ROBERT OCAMPOConvenor, V-MEN Metro Baguio

ARTHUR ALLAD-IWNational Union of Journalists of the Philippines Baguio-Benguet

challenge to participate in the struggle for indig-enous peoples’ rights to ancestral land and self-determination towards the attainment of food sovereignity and genu-ine development in our communities. We also encourage you to join us in our advoca-cy to scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and other laws that threat-en indigenous peoples’ food security. May we be united in forwarding policy recommendations such as the People’s Min-ing Bill and other bills that uphold indigenous peoples’ rights. The TFIP wishes you suc-cess in this activity and in your future endeavors. Long live the indigenous youth and all the youth of Northern Luzon!

KATRIBU INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PARTYLIST MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY Kakabsat, pada nga ag-tutubo, to all the del-egates, khawis ay akew tako am-in.To everyone gathered here today, especially the organizers, KATRIBU

salutes you for conduct-ing this meaningful and timely occasion. Thank you for inviting us in your important activity. It is our pleasure to be with you today. In behalf of the members, officers and chapters of KATRIBU, we extend our solidarity with you in this special occasion.My fellow youth, the theme: “Youth: Advance and Uphold our Role in the Politics of Change for Social Transformation” is timely and relevant as the national midterm election is approaching.The youth played very significant role in the society. We can change things, we can lead our community and even the country, we the youth can make changes in our society. That is what we call youth empower-ment. In our history, the youth played important role in the many strug-gles for societal change, for the recognition and assertion of student and people’s welfare and even for liberation. To mention some, the first quarter storm was

among the successful events led by the youth during the dark era of our country during Mar-tial Law. Youth from all walks of life bravely fought for the country’s democracy.In the Cordillera Region, the National Minority Youth Sector led big mo-bilizations against the bastardization and com-mercialization of Cordil-lera Indigenous culture portrayed through the grand canao-showcas-ing the Igorot culture in Baguio City for tour-ism. Their peaceful pro-test in the first week of March was violently dispersed by the police. After collectively lob-bying the City Council, the City Government, through the SK-Federa-tion passed a resolution in 1993 adopting March 1 to 5 as the Kaigorotan Youth Week. Since then, Kaigorotan Youth Week is being celebrated by the Igorot youth up to this day in commemo-ration of the collective action of the youth in the protection of their rights, culture and

Solidarity Messages

From left to right: 1)Del-egates of the summit during the plenary 2)Registration table of the youth summit 3)Delegates during a perfor-mance at the concert

Photos by: Marifel Macalan-da and Hazel Joy Altamarino

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dignity. The successful struggle against the World Bank funded Chico dam project was also participated by the youth of Kalinga and Mt. Province. The youth has been also instrumen-tal in fighting against the discrimination among the Cordillera Indigenous Peo-ples through education and assertion of their rights as Indigenous Peoples.The youth has already proven their capacity, lead-ership and power in many significant events and oc-casions. The youth has ful-filled in many ways and people are oppressed the words of our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal that “the youth are the hope of the Mother land”. The youth has relieved in many ways the legacy of Andres Boni-facio, hero and martyr of the 1986 Philippine revolu-tion.Kakabsat, although we have been historically part of the many struggles for change, we continue to face great challenges as we are still struggling for genuine na-tional freedom and democ-racy.

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Kami, mga kalahok sa Think Change for 2013: 2nd North Luzon Youth Summit, ay nagkakaisa para buuin ang North Lu-zon Youth Agenda.Ang North Luzon Youth Agenda ay naglalaman ng aming mga panawagan kaugnay ng aming mga hi-naing para sa mas maunlad na kinabukasan, hindi la-mang para sa aming mga kabataan, kundi maging sa ating lipunan. Isang layunin ng North Lu-zon Youth Agenda ay ang magsilbi itong batayan ng mga opisyal ng pamaha-laan, mga ahensya ng gob-yerno at iba pang grupo sa antas-lokal at antas-pam-bansa sa mga ipapatupad nilang programa at polisi-ya na tutugon sa tunay na mga pangangailangan ng kabataan sa North Luzon.Ito ay ihahapag namin sa mga indibidwal at par-tido na naghahangad na maging opisyal ng goby-erno. Ang kanilang tugon ang magiging batayan ng aming boto at suporta sa darating na halalan. Ang North Luzon Youth Agen-da ay aming isusulong hangang sa makamit ang mga nilalaman nito.

1. Libre at De-kalidad na Edukasyon

Naniniwala kaming ang edukasyon ay karapa-tan ng bawat indibid-wal. Ang pag-unlad ng bayan ay nakasalalay sa edukasyong tumutugon sa pangangailangan ng mamamayan at natatama-sa nila.Tutol kami sa mga hakbang na isapribatisa ang mga pampublikong paman-tasan kagaya na lamang ng planong “Amalgamation of State Universities and Colleges” o ang gawing iisa na lamang ang mga re-gional universities na may satellite campuses sa mga probinsya. Kinokondena namin ang panukalang pagpapatupad ng 300% tuition increase sa mga state universities sa Cordillera sa loob ng 7 taon mula 2012-2019. Na-nanawagan kami sa mga eskwelahang nagpatupad ng pagtaas sa balangkas ng programang ito na iba-lik sa mga estudyante ang sobrang matrikulang sin-ingil.Tinututulan din namin ang tuluy-tuloy na pag-taas ng matrikula at iba

pang bayarin, sa publiko man o pribadong paaralan sa buong North Luzon. Ki-nokondena namin ang pat-uloy na pagsulpot ng mga exorbitant fees at iba pang hindi maipaliwanag na ba-yarin sa mga paaralan. Hinihikayat namin ang mga miyembro ng Kongreso na labanan ang pagkaltas sa badyet sa edukasyon. Kasabay ng panawagan sa mas mataas na badyet sa edukasyon ay ang panawa-gan namin para sa mas mataas na sweldo ng mga guro at kawani ng mga paaralan. Nananawagan din kami sa Kongreso para sa mabilisang pagpapasa at pag-apruba ng morato-rium para pigilan ang mga pagtaas ng matrikula at iba pang bayarin. Tutol kami sa disenyo ng edukasyon na naglalako sa amin bilang mga low wage earners sa ibang bansa at maging sa sariling bansa. Ito ay ang mga programa tulad ng K+12, vocational courses at iba pang mga kurso sa kolehiyo na na-ka-disenyo na magsilbi sa ibang bansa.

2. Serbisyong Pangkalu-sugan

Naniniwala kaming ang serbisyong pangkalusugan ay dapat libre, de kalidad at abot-kaya ng bawat in-dibidwal.Tutol kami sa hakbang na isapribatisa ang 26 na os-pital sa buong bansa kabi-lang na ang Baguio Gen-eral Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) at ng Ilo-cos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC). Ang mga ospital na ito ang pangunahing tumutu-gon sa pangangailangang pangkalusugan ng mga ka-tutubo at ng mamamayang mula sa malalayong baryo at lugar sa Northern Luzon. Naniniwala kami na hindi ang pagsasa-pribatisa sa mga pampublikong ospi-tal ang sagot para sa mas mahusay na serbisyong pangkalusugan. Isang so-lusyon para matugunan ang mas maayos na ser-bisyong pangkalusugan ay ang paglalaan dito ng go-byerno ng mas mataas na subsidyo. Ang likas na yaman ay hindi dapat inaabuso at ginagamit para lamang sa interes ng iilan. Naniniwala kaming ang pangangalaga sa kalikasan

NORTH LUZON YOUTH AGENDAAgenda ng Kabataan sa Eleksyon 2013

Santos Mero, spokesperon of Amianan Salakniban presents the environmental situation of North Luzon.Photo by Kabataan Partylist-Ilocos

Summit workshops on Hu-man Rights and Environment

Photos by:Marifel Macalanda

ay isang susi sa maunlad na kinabukasan para sa lahat.Sa pangkabuuan, ang Northern Luzon ay may-aman sa likas na yaman. Matatagpuan dito ang matatayog na kabundukan at ilang malalaking ilog ng Kordilyera at karagatan na-man ng Ilokos at Cagayan. Ngunit ang natitirang ka-gandahan at likas na yaman ng NL ay nangangambang tuluyang masira dahil sa ibat ibang mga mapanirang proyekto tulad ng pagmim-ina ng malalaking kump-anya. Tutol kami sa malawakan at mapanirang pagmimina sa ating mga kabundukan at karagatan. Batay sa mga testimonya ng mga resi-denteng apektado ng pag-mimina, ang malawak na pagmimina ay mayroong malaking epekto sa ka-nilang kabuhayan, tirahan, buhay at kultura. Kinokondena din namin ang pagputol ng mga puno sa SM na dekadang inala-gaan ng mga katutubo sa Baguio. Ito ay lantarang paglapastangan ng mga malalaking kumpanya sa kalikasan para lamang sa dagdag na tubo. Ang mabilis na pagkasira ng kalikasan ay nagdudulot ng unti-unting pagkawala

sa mayamang kultura ng mga katutubo sa Northern Luzon. Bilang tagapagmana, ang mga kabataan ang lubos na maaapektuhan ng ganitong negatibong sitwasyon. Sa halip na pagmimina, dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ng gobyerno ang pagpapaun-lad sa ating primaryang industriya, ang agrikultura. Isusulong namin ang kara-patan ng mga katutubo para sa sariling pagpa-pasya. Nakapaloob dito ang pagrespeto sa kanilang kakayanang magpasya para sa lupang ninuno (an-cestral domain), paggalang sa kanilang kultura at ikina-bubuhay.4. Pagtataguyod ng Digni-dad ng TaoMaitataguyod lamang ang dignidad ng tao sa pamamagitan ng pagkilala sa malayang pagsasabuhay ng mga karapatang pan-tao. Nararapat lamang na irespeto ang karapatan ng bawat indibidwal. Kasa-ma rito ang pangangala-ga sa karapatan ng mga mamamayan na magpa-hayag at maggiit ng iba’t ibang lehitimong kahilin-gan.Kinokondena namin ang paniniktik at patuloy na red-tagging at red-baiting

sa mga progresibong ka-bataan at organisasyon sa paaralan at komunidad. Ang hangad lamang ng mga kabataan ay maipahayag ang kanilang saloobin sa mga usaping nangyayari sa kanilang kapaligiran at ma-bigyan ito ng karampatang aksyon. Nanawagan kami sa aga-rang pagtigil ng mga proyekto, kung saan kasa-ma ang AFP, sa porma ng mga counter-insurgency seminars and forums sa mga eskwelahan kung saan nagsisilbi itong daan sa pananakot, red-tagging at red-baiting sa mga ka-bataan at guro. Samantalang kaakibat ng pagpasok ng mga naglalak-ihang mapanirang proyek-to sa North Luzon ay ang matitinding paglabag sa karapatang pantao sa mga residente. Ang mga kalagayang ito ang naglalagay sa mga ka-bataan at mamamayan ng NL sa sitwasyong sila ay patuloy na nagiging bikti-ma ng pananakot, panunul-sol, red tagging, pagdukot, pwersadong pagkawala at pagpatay. Nananawagan kami sa ma-bilisang pagpapa-alis ng mga sundalo sa mga ko-munidad kung saan gina-

gawang kampo ang mga kabahayan, eskwelahan, at barangay hall. Ang ka-nilang pananatili sa mga komunidad ay nagreresulta sa mga paglabag gaya ng panggagahasa sa menor de edad, pambubugbog, at pa-nanakot sa mga residente. Nanawagan kami na ipatu-pad ang LFS-Sotto Accord na nagbabawal sa mga militar na pumasok, mag-kampo at kumilos sa loob ng mga institusyong pang-akademiko.5. Pangangailangang Pang-ekonomiyaKarapatan ng bawat in-dibidwal ang mabuhay nang matiwasay ng may maayos ang katayuan. Nararapat lamang na ang bawat isa ay may disen-teng trabaho na maka-bubuhay sa kanyang pamilya. Nararapat ding tugunan ang pangunahing pangangailangan ng mga magsasaka sa sariling lupa.Kinokondena namin ang pagiging deregulated ng produktong langis na si-yang nagtutulak sa mga kumpanya ng langis na magtaas ng presyo ng kahit walang pahintulot ang go-byerno.Sinusuportahan din namin ang panawagan ng mga manggagawa para sa sapat

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North Luzon Youth Agendapart 2 ng Agenda ng Kabataan sa Eleksyon 2013

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Solidarity Messages

From left to right: 1)Del-egates watching the video message of Cong. Teddy Casino 2)Sam Anongos of Katribu Partylist giving a statement of solidarity 3)Staff of RDC-KADUMI dur-ing the summit

Photos by Marifel Maca-landa

Congressman Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna Partylist expressed his support to the almost 200 participants of Think Change 2: North Luzon Youth Summit last Janu-ary 26 & 27 at Teacher’s Camp, Baguio City. In a solidarity message shown to the partici-pants during the first day of the Summit, Casiño congratulated all the organizers and partici-pants of the Summit for conducting the mean-ingful and timely event. Casiño then recollected his past experiences as the previous National President of the Col-lege Editors’ Guild of the Philippines when he also joined mobili-zations and organized forums and discussions that convened the ranks of the youth in order to collectively talk about the issues they confront. The Bayan Muna solon also affirmed the enor-mous role of the youth in the upcoming elec-tions not only because they comprise more

than 50% of the num-ber of registered vot-ers but also because he believes that the youth has the greatest poten-tial to act in promoting honest elections. He elaborated this and said that the youth should be involved in the affairs in their society not only during election time and through voting. He encouraged the youth to explore the various means such as conduct-ing forums and seminars on current issues, or-ganizing communities, holding arts and literacy trainings and workshops among others, in order to contribute to the im-provement of the peo-ple’s condition.

TFIP STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY The Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (TFIP) expresses its congratu-lations to the organiz-ers and participants of the Second North Luzon Youth Summit. It is in-deed timely to hold ac-

tivities such as this. In a few months time, elec-tions will once again be held in the country. We need to raise awareness on the urgent issues of the people that we pres-ently confront. We are heartened by the significant participation of indigenous youth in this activity. We hope that this summit will bring to the fore indig-enous peoples’ issues, especially in the for-mulation of the youth agenda that will be pre-sented to candidates of the upcoming elections and the newly elected officials. The indigenous peoples in the country are suffering from wors-ening food insecurity due to development ag-gression and militariza-tion. In the proliferation of destructive projects in indigenous commu-nities such as mining, dams and plantations, the people are robbed off their rights to ances-tral land, which is their main source of food and livelihood. At the same

time, they often fall vic-tim to human rights vio-lations whenever they assert their rights. This situation can be seen for instance in Man-kayan, Benguet where Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company is ag-gressively expanding its operations. The tragic incident where a woman leader opposing mining was killed in Nueva Viz-caya last December also shows what may happen when indigenous peo-ples fight for their rights.As the title of your event “Think Change 2” sug-gests: we are one in the belief that the youth are the real catalysts of change. Given the situa-tion of present day soci-ety, it is a good thing to have youth who are unit-ed and committed in ef-fecting real change. For the indigenous youth participants in this activ-ity, may you rise up to the challenge to partici-pate in the struggle for indigenous youth partici-pants in this activity, may you rise up to the

From left to right : 1)Delegates dancing at the concert 2) Discussion at the human rights work-shop 3)Finela Mejia of NUSP gives the rationale of youth summit

Photos from the Cordil-lera Youth Center

keep silent and be passive instead of filling complaints to the authorotiesB. Actions and Resolutions on what the youth can do•Conduct wide-spread education and training on the rights of the youth•File letter of complaint to the friendly school administrations, LGU’s and NGO’s and ask their support to protect the students and youth. There was a good experience in one State College in CAR wherein the perpetrators of harassment, fellow student leaders, were suspended after the students who were harassed filed the wider public and get their support on the issues of the youth •Conduct petition signing to stop the red tagging, political vilification and other forms of human rights violations to the students/youth•Conduct presscon and media interviews to

inform the wider public and get their support on the issues of the youth •Support and elect political candidates of Philippine 2013 elec-tions who will support the campaign and make concrete actions against human rights violations On EnvironmentA. Issues•Illegal logging•Destructive, large scale mining •Dams and other Energy projects•Unsystematic Waste Management•Cutting of trees as part of SM expansion•Magnetite mining•Big fishing vessels catching small fishes•Air Pollution•Indigenous agricultural calendar is not followed due to Climate change that affect the production of cropsB. Community (LGU, Church, NGO’s) efforts in addressing these issues•Some NGO’s found mitigating measures to cope up with climate change, and have done researches to address

the issue of giant earthworms in Ifugao•Even though some LGU officers, and People’s organization, are against mining and projects, they can’t do anything since it was approved by national government.•People have formed broad alliances and networks to oppose these destructive projects•LGU’s in partnerships with NGO’s have conducted Symposia, and forums to address these issuesC. Efforts of other active youth organizations•Youth and their youth organizations have been part of the broad networks that oppose destructive projects and help in the campaigns and call for a healthy environment •Spearheaded activities like educational discussions, symposia, and forums to address these issues•Initiate tree planting activities •Some youth organizations staged

theatres and dramas depicting the situation of the environment, conducted Basic mass integrations to learn more about the issues of the communitiesD. What can youth do to address their issues?•Strengthen their organizations, networks and movements to take a stand against destructive projects•Support the campaign advocacy Youth Advocacy for the Defense of our environment and culture (YtaDEC) and Fight for our Rights to Education, Employment, Environment and Democratic Rights (FREEEDOM) campaign/networkE. Characteristics of Leaders we should vote for the on the Philippine2013 Elections•Support the campaign for a healthy environment and to save mother earth•Environmentalist•Track record against destructive projects

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na serbisyo, seguridad sa trabaho at panawagang P125 wage increase across the board. Sinusuportahan namin ang P128 kada kilong panawa-gan ng mga magsasaka ng tabako. Pagbasura sa liber-alisyon sa agrikultura.Naniniwala kami na para makaagapay ang mga mamamayan sa taas ng pr-esyo ng bilihin ay nararapat lamang na mabigyan sila ng kakayanang bumili sa pamamagitan ng pagtaas ng kanilang sweldo at ng presyo ng kanilang produk-tong pang-agrikultura.Ipaglalaban namin ang karapatan na magkaroon ng disente at maayos na trabaho para sa mga ka-bataan sa komunidad, mga bagong gradweyt, at mga working students.Nananawagan kami sa go-byerno na suportahan ang pagtatayo ng isang maka-bayang industriya para sa mas maunlad na ekonomi-ya.

Sa pangkalahatan, hinihil-ing naming pakinggan ang boses ng mga kabataan. Bigyan kami ng sapat at angkop na espasyo upang maipahayag namin ang aming mga demokratikong hinaing, interes at maka-tarungang panawagan ng walang takot at pag-aal-angan. Kaakibat nito ay ang pagsuporta sa mga lehiti-mong organisasyon ng mga kabataan at mga aktibidad at inisyatiba nila.

Nananawagan kami sa kasalukuyang mga opisy-ales at sa mga tatakbong kandidato sa darating na

eleksyon sa antas nasyu-nal, probinsyal at lokal na suportahan itong nabuong Northern Luzon Youth Agenda noong 2nd North-ern Luzon Youth Summit.

Ang tindig ng mga tatak-bong kandidato sa darat-ing na eleksyon, sa mga kahilingan at panawagang nabanggit ang siyang ma-giging batayan ng aming pagboto at pagsuporta. Ang 2nd Northern Luzon Youth Agendang ito ay amin ding ihahapag sa mga paaralan, komunidad at mga kinauukulang insti-tusyon at ahensya.

Pinatibay ang dokumento ng ito ngayong ika-26 ng Enero, 2013 sa Quirino Hall, Baguio City.

National Union of Students of the PhilippinesCollege Editors Guild of the PhilippinesAnakbayanKabataan PartylistCordillera Youth CenterYoung Defenders- Network for Human RightsDap-ayan ti Kultura iti KordilyeraSangguniang Kabataan Federation- Baguio CitySangguniang Kabataan- Barangay South Central Aurora HillAlliance of Concerned Students- UP BaguioTanghalang Bayan ng Ka-bataan sa BaguioIntegrated Students in Psychology (YSIP)Outcrop, University of the Philippines-BaguioAlternative, University of the CordillerasCA Pride, Benguet State

University College of Agri-cultureSupreme Student Govern-ment, University of BaguioSchool Assembly, School of Accountancy and Busi-ness Management, Saint Louis UniversityProgressive Igorots for Social Action (PIGSA)BIBAKKatribu YouthPINATUD-AnakbayanDanum Cultural GroupBilleg ken Urnos ti Agtu-tubo y Benguet (BUDAY)Supreme Student Council, Abra State Institute of Sci-ence and TechnologyMt. Province Youth Alli-ance- AnakbayanCollege of Nursing, Mt. Province State Polytechnic CollegeLeague of Progressive Students- MPSPCSigma Kappa Pi FraternitySigma Delta Pi SororityKalinga Students Associa-tion- MPSPCSupreme Student Coun-cil, Kalinga Apayao State College Supreme Student Council, Cordillera A+ Computer College Samahan ng Mag-aaral sa Kalinga (SAMAKA),Ifugao State University Supreme Student Council, Upland Farm, Ifugao State University

North Luzon Youth Agendapart 3 ng Agenda ng Kabataan sa Eleksyon 2013

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Workshop Results: Education, Environment, Human Rights

(From left to right) Work-shops on education, and human rights

Photos by Marifel Macalanda

EDUCATION WORKSHOPA. Issues•Almost yearly increase in tuition fee especially in private schools and automatic bracketting of P1,000/unit in UP Baguio•Staggard 300% increase of tuition fee in the Cordillera Administrative Region – State Universities and Colleges•Almost yearly increase of miscellaneous fees •Long time existing fees, new and redundant fees (Land, Infrastructure, Maintenance and Management Fee - LIMAD Fee, penalties, charge of electronic gadgets, additional fees being collected before the final exams, etc.)•“No permit no exam” policy•Lack of good facilities (books, clean CR, internet access, classroom ventilation and lighting, etc.)•Problem in school management (bureacracy, indecisiveness of school

officials on matters concerning their school, some non-academic personnel are not doing their job and manipulation of the school administration on school funds and relation with the students)•Unjust and bureacratic policies in the recognition of student organizations, use of facilities, curfew inside the school, and other student-related activities •Most of the student councils (SC) and student publications (Pub) are being controlled by the school administration while the SC and Pub members are not asserting their rights. They are not functioning as the voice for the students, so most of the student issues are not lobbied to the administration and most of their funds, which came from the students, are used by the school administration or are

not used for student services•No or lack of democratic and open consultations between the school administration and the students on policies affecting the students and faculty

B. Community (LGU, Church, NGOs) efforts in addressing these issues•Most of the participants coming from the private school saw no effort or help coming from the Local Government Units•There are some scholarships from the LGU, NGOs and other Partylist groups•Most of the Sangguniang Kabataan in CAR are not functioning and generally they have no or lack of effort in addressing the youth issues in their localities

C. Efforts of other active youth organizations •Some student

publications, those who are not afraid of their school administration, publish articles and conduct seminars on student issues•Other student or youth organizations staged theaters depicting the plights of the youth, conduct focus group discussions, fora, join and support signature campaigns relating to their concerns and out-reach program•Campaign on scrapping of the 300% inrease and call for a higher state subsidy as an alternative and the moratorium of tuition fee and other fee increases According to the participants, these efforts are still not enough especially that most of these activities are conducted in only some schools. The students and their organizations are willing to conduct activities but they are not allowed by the school administration.

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From left to right: 1)Cielo Marie Bayson of Kabataan Partylist presenting the North Luzon Youth Agenda 2) Delegates ap-proving the youth agenda 3)DKK members leading the Unity March

Photo by: Hazel Joy Altamarino

Even among the out-of-school youth, appropriate avenues are not offered to them by their LGU’s and even communities. Most of the participants said that their complaints are not being heard by their school and government officials. There are some staff of the LGU’s in the provinces that reject the letter of concern coming from the youth.

D. What can the youth do to address their issues•Request for a dialogue with the school administration. If possible, there should be an intervention of their LGU’s at least as mediators•Explore from the governors and congressmen for their PDAF to be use for scholarships •Challenge the student councils, student publications and SK’s for them to take a stand on the student/youth issues and make clear

plans in addressing the concerns of their constituents•Strengthen the unities among the students and youth •Join active student/youth organizations that can advance the student/youth issues•Support Fight for our Rights to Education, Employment, environment and Democratic Rights (FREEDOM) campaign/network

E.Characteristics of leaders we should vote for on Philippine 2013 Elections•Can provide educational assistance to deserving youth•Support the youth on their demands to stop the 300% increase, yearly tuition fee and other fee increases•Can fullfil their promise, have realistic and doable programs•Pro-youth•Nationalist•Open-minded and approachable

•Someone who is not in the current administration or new but deserving leaders

HUMAN RIGHTS WORKSHOPA. Issues•There are provinces in CAR considered as “Hot Spot”, especially during election period, where there are cases of harassment and vote buying accompanied by threat (money inserted in guns, people have no right to choose their candidates)•Student and youth leaders, including members of progressive organizations, are being harassed both by elements of the AFP, school administrations and even by some faculty or advisers of student councils and student publications•Red tagging and vilification of youth organizations as fronts of NPA, notorious activists, communists, etc.•Scholars of progressive

partylists such as Kabataan Partylist are being harassed and under surveillance by elements of AFP through their intelligence network•As results of the harassment, there are those who suffered from fear, no focus in their education, loss of confidence in the state to protect them, among others•Violations of Campus Press Freedom in most schools in Northern Luzon. Along with the student councils, they are controlled by the school administration•No avenues are provided by the LGU’s, school and some occassions their communities for the students and youth to express their thoughts and concerns•If there are young people who speak-out their minds, they are being harassed and branded as communist or NPA supporters so some of them chose to