THE SANGGUNIAN turned over the student-written letters collected for the Youth State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the New Executive Building of the Malacañang Compound last July 17.
Aside from the Sanggunian, representatives from the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP), the Akbayan party list and the non-government civil society organization Teach for the Philippines submitted the said letters to Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte.
The Youth SONA was an initiative held for schools in affiliation with SCAP. Students were asked to write a letter about the issues they wanted President Benigno Aquino III to address during his SONA.
The letters were then compiled, summarized and presented to Valte by 11 representatives of various sectors.
The Sanggunian’s representative was Owdylyn Lee, a member of the Department of External Affairs. She was the only Atenean in attendance.
The issues identified in the letters include the following: The Zamboanga killings, Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) and its alleged removal, the youth health budget, women empowerment, the education budget, the K12 system and student rights.
In a previous interview with The GUIDON, Sanggunian President Dan Remo said that the Youth SONA is a part of a series of events that the Ateneo would be joining as a response to the shooting incidents in Zamboanga City.
“We hope to be engaged in more situations like [the Youth SONA] in the future,” said Remo during the initial report of the letter turnover in the Sanggunian Central Board meeting held last July 26.
Main issues discussed
One of the main issues raised in the Youth SONA letters were the shooting incidents in Zamboanga City.
The Ateneo, along with various other institutions, have been calling for national focus on this issue in light of its relatively low media exposure.
When the Youth SONA group brought this up during the meeting, Valte said she was not aware of the violence in Zamboanga. She promised to look into the matter.
The discussion in Malacañang also touched on the alleged dissolution of the SK.
The Youth SONA group is against this, arguing that abolishing the SK will remove an avenue for the Filipino youth to engage in political affairs.
Instead, the representatives asked for a reformation of the SK program.
The group members also questioned what the government was doing for women empowerment and the individuals victimized by and involved in cyber sex.
The discussion was then steered toward a proposal to allocate more funds for the youth health budget in order to prevent teenage pregnancy.
