Press Release
January 17, 2018

Sen. Joel Villanueva's sponsorship speech on Magna Carta of the Out-of-School Youth

Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.

Mr. President and my distinguished colleagues, it is my honor as Chairman of the Committee on Youth to sponsor Senate Bill No. 1650 under Committee Report No. 223 or the "Magna Carta of the Out-of-School Youth."

Sa tuwing mapag-uusapan po ang mga kabataan, may isang pariralang malimit banggitin bilang paglalarawan sa kanila - "pag-asa ng bayan".

Nabanggit din ito ni Dr. Jose Rizal halos 140 taon na ang nakararaan, nang isinulat niya ang tulang "A La Juventud Filipina" sa Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas noong siya'y 18 taong gulang pa lamang.

Ganito po ang unang saknong:

"Itaas ang iyong
Malinis na noo
Sa araw na ito,
Kabataang Pilipino!
Igilas mo na rin ang kumikinang mong
Mayamang sanghaya
Magandang pag-asa ng Bayan kong Mutya!"

The poem is a message primarily to emphasize the value of education and praise the rising generation and their role in nation building.

Today, we need to ask ourselves whether young Filipinos are indeed the "fair hope of our motherland" knowing that this country has about 3.8 million out-of-school children and youth.

Mr. President, about 10 percent of the 39 million Filipinos with age range six to 24 years old are out-of-school according to the 2016 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS). That's one in every 10 Filipino kids.

The most common reasons among out-of-school youth for not attending school were marriage or family matters (42.3 percent), high cost of education or financial concerns (20.2 percent), and lack of personal interest (19.7 percent).

Nationwide, about 53 percent of out-of-school children and youth belong to families whose income fall at the bottom 30 percent based on their per capita income.

Kung magmamasid tayo sa ating paligid, makikita natin ang mga mukha sa likod ng mga datos na ito.

Sa mga kalye natin, nagkalat ang mga kabataan araw-araw. Mapapaisip ka kung bakit oras ng eskwela pero nakababad sila sa lansangan. Kahit sa dis-oras ng gabi, sa mga delikadong kalye, naroon sila. May iba, na-i-involved pa sa mga petty crimes, nambabato ng mga sasakyan o humihithit ng sigarilyo o rugby.

Sa mga kanayunan, may mga kabataang mula sa mga kapatid nating indigenous peoples ang hindi nakakahawak ng lapis o libro kasi sa lugar nila, walang mga eskwelahan o kaya hindi nararating ng mga guro o mobile teachers.

Mas nakakalungkot pa ang malamang may mga kabataang sa halip na pagbasa at pagsulat, paghawak ng baril ang pinag-aaralan. Iyong iba, sa murang edad, sumasabak na sa trabaho o nabibiktima ng child labor kaya hindi na maisip mag-eskwela.

May mga batang may disability din ang ikinukulong na lang ng kanilang mga magulang sa bahay sa halip na hanapan ng SPED services. Hindi sila masisi dahil hanggang ngayon, kulang-kulang ang special education services natin at kailangan ring i-address ang discrimination lalo na ang bullying.

Kasama rin dito ang mga kabataang nakababad sa internet at social media - malaya nilang nabubuksan ang mga websites na inapproriate sa edad nila tulad ng mga pornographic sites.

Mr. President, sa ganitong sitwasyon, sila pa nga ba ang pag-asa ng ating bayan?

These young individuals are the main reasons behind the proposed Magna Carta of Out-of-School Youth (OSY). And we thank and recognize our seatmate, Senator Gatchalian, for pushing this measure since he was a member of the House of Representatives.

Mr. President, Senate Bill 1650 seeks to define the rights of over 3.8 million out-of-school children and youth in the country.

It establishes an aggressive affirmative action program aimed at providing all children and youth who are out of school with expanded government assistance to all types of education and training, including school-based educational opportunities from the primary to tertiary levels, non-formal education under the Alternative Learning System, and most especially, tech-voc training.

Senate Bill 1650 also guarantees the right of out-of-school youth against discrimination and to be protected from violence and from human rights abuses. It also provides for a comprehensive system of rights which would entitle OSYs to greater access to basic social services, including health, job-matching, employment and entrepreneurship.

Mr. President, the proposed measure is in consonance with the 1987 Constitution recognizing the vital role of the youth in nation-building and to promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.

Furthermore, Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, this proposed measure would help the Philippine government fulfill its commitments under the ASEAN Declaration on Strengthening Education for Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY), adopted by the Philippines and other ASEAN member-states on September 8, 2016 at the ASEAN summit in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Notable cases

Mr. President, we believe that when young Filipinos are given full access to healthcare, child-friendly, multi-cultural and global education, they are empowered to make their contribution to the progress of this country.

Last December, Hillary Diane Andales, 18 years old, from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Eastern Visayas Campus in Palo, Leyte bested 11,000 young learners from 178 countries to bag the third annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge (BJC) Prize.

For this competition, she earned over P20-million worth of prizes at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center in California.

In fact, Andales was one of the recipients of "Mga Bagong Rizal 2017: Pag-asa ng Bayan" last December 30, the Rizal Day.

Way back in 2015, I met Sheena Marie Eusena, a young woman in Bohol who felt she was in the pits and had nowhere to go after getting pregnant in her teenage years. She was forced to stop attending school as more and more people talked about her condition.

Tech-voc opened the window of opportunity to her after she enrolled in a food processing course and finished it with flying colors. Soon after, she took baking and pastry production and got a National Certificate. This paved the way for her first job in a bakeshop.

Saving around P45,000 from her earnings, she was able to buy her own baking equipment and set up her own bakeshop, which she now runs with her family.

But there's no stopping Sheena. After two tech-voc courses, she enrolled in commercial cooking.

For all her feat, she was recognized as the Batang TESDA awardee, which is given to tech-voc graduates who become role models to fellow youth and epitomize what Rizal envisioned for a young Filipino - "fair hope of our motherland".

Through Senate Bill 1650, many more young people who have experienced crisis and forced to leave school could rise above the challenges like Sheena.

Walang duda na kung bawat bata sa ating bansa ay may pagkakataong makapag-eskwela o mabigyan ng libro at magabayan ng sapat, magagawa nila ang lahat pati na ang pag-aangat ng mga Pilipino sa buong mundo tulad ni Hillary.

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, we want to nourish the potentials of every Filipino child and youth for their bright future and for the progress of our country. Hence, we will continue to find ways to ensure that they have opportunity to bring out their talents, their "treasure within".

We will speak up for their rights because they are the most vulnerable in our society. And if we want them to truly be the "fair hope of the motherland", then let us empower them and shield them from the harm of ignorance and lack of education.

Let's give them a meaningful and prosperous start of 2018 and every day of their lives. Let's pass Senate Bill 1650.

Thank you Mr. President and distinguished colleagues.

God bless us all.

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