The 1st Emerging Pinoy Leaders' Congress

EPLC with support of IPI, GeOh MEdia and Libradilla Trucking Services

I am writing this with an organizer's point-of-view, I guess :D. Well, I was one of the organizers in which the convening initiator/organizing organization is the ALEx - Aboitiz Leaders' of Excellence. The EPLC - Emerging Pinoy Leaders' Congress 2010 happened in Genesis Valley, Cabangahan, Consolacion for a 2 days and 1 Night engagement.

GTKY Games

We were assigned various tasks and responsibilities and I can truly say that this is the 1st event organizing venture wherein the audience is so diverse or varied (Unlike in College where your all in the same school). After the registration, I helped around whenever and wherever I can, and even watched while enjoying myself watch the participants' through the getting-to-know-you activities/games besides the usual introduce-yourself-to-the-crowd.

Participants at the BuS

I did some pre-stalking moves in checking out the profile of the participants while they were participating and listening to various activities anchored by my co-organizers like the 2010 Youth Statistics. I was quite surprised with their backgrounds, from SK, youth organizations, school organizations and even some from NGO - Non-Government Organizations.

We hiked to get here, all of us, seriously!

We climbed up a MT.OLYMPUS like place where the break-out sessions occurred. This is the point wherein the invited speakers were broken up by Area of Engagements - Health, Governance, Education, Environment, and Social Welfare. Being an organizer has its perks, being able to walk around (While Documenting of course) what they were discussing from each engagement. There was silent inner-reflections, Creative artistry via aesthetic arts, singing and dancing, Cheering and some serious debating happening all over. The downside though is that I only have a piece of each engagement but that suits me being a person who wears many hats.

Governance Break-Out Session

You can check www.epinoycon.com for speaker profiles and testimonials as well.
Here is a sampler from the break-out session for Social Welfare (Video Courtesy of Mikyu)

Poverty and Social Welfare Break-out Reflections

Even more surprising was during our interactions with them since they were so AWARE, OPINIONATED, KNOWLEDGEABLE and very ENERGETIC these YOUTH were (I thought at one-point I was truly getting older..:() with regards to their respective organizations, projects and community. They were aware of the current issues of the youth and was doing something in their own little way.

FGD - During the Focused Group Discussion

I verified much of these during the part of the program where it was my turn to participate as a Facilitator for the Reflection-Break-out Session where I managed the "Social Welfare and Poverty" engagement. The total participants I handled since all of them passed through the engagement I was managing was about 70+ youth representing about 40+ organizations.

Tents in the Football Field

Before the day ended we prepared our tents which was provided for (Yes, Organizers also slept in tents just like the participants, but was BIGGER ;P) and also assisted some volunteer participants in crafting the Unified Youth Declaration which you can find below..

Early morning with Blogger-Participants?

On day 2, organizers had to work, wake up and prepare early on. We had more games and reflections with reporting of the participants' learnings and insights from the day before. After which we presented the Youth Declaration and had some words of encouragement from RAFI-EADSC's Executive Director. Then more Camwhoring happened and some tearful goodbyes from friends and FANS :P

About the Emerging Pinoy Leaders Congress:

EpinoyCon 2010 or Emerging Pinoy Leaders Congress 2010, the premier youth gathering event, holds unique experiential and multi-track events in Cebu City, Philippines for the first time! EpinoyCon, is supported by the industry's leading businesses, speakers, and sponsors involved in Social Development, Technologies or the like who support the development of the youth.

EPLC or EpinoyCon is a large and influential gathering of Youth Leaders from various school-based, youth and registered organization, offering an unrivaled fun-filled and productive congress experience at cost-effective rates.

For more information about it, you can check out there website HERE for other relevant information, updates and testimonials.

EPLC Youth declaration

View more documents from Vernon Go.

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The Youth Declaration:

We, the Emerging Pinoy Leaders of Cebu, hereby declare the following:

Whereas, we envision a sustainable, livable and prosperous Philippines that fosters social equity, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability;

Whereas, we want to see a society that promotes and practices:

moral, ethical and God-centered values;
self-reliance and social well-being;
ecological awareness and concern;
accessible quality education for all;
healthy living and access to quality public health care;
participatory governance with leaders who are not only competent but also committed to practicing a system of transparency and accountability, equal opportunities and fair services to the people;
Whereas, we recognize that the government has a role to play in addressing development problems in the Philippines and requires vital partnership with and active participation of civil society and the private sector;

Whereas, we aim for the Cebuano youth to have a greater sense of social concern through responsible and accountable leadership, pro-active citizenship and volunteerism, practice of excellence and upholding moral values.


NOW THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the aforementioned premises, I hereby commit myself to the following, that I will:

Continue to promote the bigger role of my fellow youth as catalysts for positive change in the community and in the country by upholding God-centered Filipino values and self-discipline;

Support and help initiate effective poverty alleviation programs such as the replication of best practices and capacity building on entrepreneurship and livelihood;

Spearhead efforts on environmental awareness and protection, especially towards climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, pollution control and sustainable use of resources;

Advocate for the enjoyment of everybody’s right to education by supporting improvements in the educational system and the promotion of quality education;

Help educate others, especially my fellow youth, on the importance of a healthy lifestyle especially in addressing issues on reproductive health and substance abuse, and support programs promoting proper nutrition, sanitation, safety and disaster risk reduction and improved public health care;

Initiate and support activities of government institutions, especially of youth leaders in government, that promote awareness and responsiveness on issues affecting their constituents and instill the importance of values-based public service, leading to a more pro-active involvement and good governance;

And, through our shared aspirations and actions in this declaration, unite with other youth leaders in promoting a more livable Cebu and Philippines, and enjoin other stakeholders to support this collective cause.

Adopted through the concerted effort and support of 100 youth leaders representing 42 multi-sectoral organizations this 19th day of December 2010 at Consolacion, Cebu.


The Emerging Pinoy Leaders Congress Delegates
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Till the next EPLC!! ;P