MANILA, Philippines – In 2023, they were a youth organization that only had five active volunteers. A year later, they were catapulted to the limelight as an awardee at the 21st Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO).
This was the success story of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Youth Chain of Peace (MYCOP), one of three youth organizations in Mindanao that were included in the 21st TAYO awards held on August 19.
“Now we are a strong 35 members. We only had the belief na paano ba natin masustain yung peace kahit sa ating simple ways lang (in how we can sustain peace, even through our simple ways),” said Jonathan Gelogo, president of MYCOP.
“In a country grappling with disinformation, misinformation, and now, conflicts in Mindanao, how will you try to bridge those things? How will we then have the right to truth? If mismo nga tayo, may iba-iba tayong mga challenges in terms of that. Para sa amin, let’s start focusing muna on recording our history. Makialam tayo, makisali tayo sa pagbibigay ng understanding,” he added.
(We have different challenges in terms of that. For us, let’s start focusing on recording our history. Let’s get involved, let’s help in giving understanding.)
Overcoming stigma, biases
MYCOP, a youth-led organization dedicated to promoting peace in Mindanao, was recognized at the 21st TAYO Awards for its work Project PLAY+, where it used games to break down complex peace-building concepts and engage the youth in overcoming stereotypes and biases.
Gelogo said that there was still a stigma where families or the elderly ask youth to avoid addressing local issues.
With this, he encouraged the youth to not let stigma stop them from fostering peace or pursuing any of their advocacies.
“Dili ta mu-stop didto lang, sa anong nadinig natin. Hinihikayat ko kayo na yung mga na-ingrain sa atin mismo, pag-aralan natin ano ba epekto nito sa iba,” Gelogo said. “Huwag [nating] sabihin, ah, bata lang ako, ano ba ambag ko? It’s not about the ambag, it’s about your heart [for] service.”
(Let’s not just stop there – at what we heard. I encourage you to study how the beliefs that are ingrained in us can affect others. Let’s not say that we’re just kids, what can my contribution be? It’s not about the contribution, it’s about your heart for service.)
Reclaiming the narrative
The two other youth organizations in Mindanao recognized in the 21st TAYO Awards – Second Chance Philippines and Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests – also encouraged youth to think outside the box and help underrecognized sectors. Both organizations also sought to empower marginalized sectors to take active roles in their communities.
“Sawa na ako dun sa narrative na nilalabas na kapag katutubo ka, nandun ka lang sa kalsada, nagjo-join sa mga rally…. Coming from that experience, sana makita natin na may capacity tayo, may story tayo. Hindi tayo basta sunod-sunuran lang. At kaya ng kabataang Pilipino na tumungtong din sa national na stage. Hindi lang national, pati international na stage… Huwag natin ibaba yung pangarap natin. Taasan natin,” said Robert Mansaloon Cahapon, Co-founder of the Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests.
(I’m tired of the narrative that if you’re an indigenous person, you’re just there in the streets and joining rallies. Coming from that experience, I hope we see that we are capable, we have a story to tell. We don’t just follow. Filipino youth can also reach the national stage, and even the international stage. Let’s not lower our dreams, let’s raise them.)
Leading an organization that stands up for the forests and harnesses the capacity of indigenous communities to take leadership roles and manage their ancestral lands, Cahapon hopes that more indigenous leaders will listen to the younger generations.
Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests empowers upland communities through four areas of engagement namely forest farm boundary and water source rehabilitation, dialogues and training, ecopreneurship, and environmental storytelling.
Cahapon added that all these programs involve translating terms in the Manobo language as a way to preserve and revitalize it. These efforts also help empower indigenous communities and help debunk people’s misconceptions towards them. This was especially seen in their efforts in environmental storytelling, where community members share stories of reforestation and their challenges.
“Kailangan ng mga storytellers sa ngayon na panahon na nakaugat mismo sa ano yung nangyayari onground. Of course, not just by telling the story, yung owning of the integrity ng mga tao, like changing yung narrative about indigenous people,” added Cahapon.
(We need storytellers now who are rooted in what’s happening onground. By telling stories, communities own their integrity and change the narrative about indigenous people.)
Cahapon also said he wished to have a better climate finance system as most of the time it does not reach grassroots communities.
More that can be done
The youth can also help out in helping sectors burdened by society’s perceptions of them. Seeing how former persons deprived of liberty (PDL) struggle to reintegrate into society after prison, Captain Edo Lobenia founded Second Chance Philippines.
From the name itself, this non-profit youth organization provides a second chance to former offenders through a multi-dimensional approach involving employment and education, among others.
As an advocate for the PDLs, he said that he hoped to have a more localized reintegration law in the Philippines.
“What we have right now is a fragmented correctional system in the Philippines. And we hope and pray that our people from the Senate and Congress to be able to pass a law on jail integration,” said Lobenia.
The three youth leaders encouraged youth to take action on the issues in their communities, and find ways to make a sustainable impact. Gelogo hopes that their project will be integrated across the MSU system one day.
As people figure out their advocacy, Gelogo emphasized that it’s not about how big their contribution is but how willing they are to serve.
“Advocacy: you feel it, it’s not something that we can give off to you but it’s something that we can show you,” he said.
“The leadership of Mindanao will and always be shaped by the youth of Mindanao,” he added. – Samantha Bagayas and Angela Ballerda/Rappler.com
Angela Ballerda was a Rappler volunteer from Ateneo de Manila University from June to August 2024. She is an incoming junior taking up AB Communication Major in Journalism, Minor in Public Management. Currently, she serves as the Broadcast News Producer of The GUIDON, the official student publication of her university.