Youth as Drivers of the Country

Abstract

The study generally aimed to chronicle the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) and its effect on the personality, attitudes, and practices of the youth in Baguio-La Trinidad. Specifically, it aimed to determine the socio-demographic profile of the respondents, chronicle the Youth Leadership Summit as a program, determine the perceived effect of the Youth Leadership Summit to the youth in terms of personality, attitudes, and practice, determine the challenges encountered in the Youth Leadership Summit and to solicit recommendations from the respondents for the improvement of the Youth Leadership Summit program. The study was conducted in Baguio and La Trinidad. A total of 40 respondents were involved. Thirty-five youth respondents aging 15-30 years old and five key informants from the Philippine army were chosen. In chronicling and documenting the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS), it came into three parts: backgrounder of the program; rationale of the program; and the historical accounts of how YLS was implemented in Baguio and La Trinidad. Historically, a trial YLS was held on March 10-13, 2002 at the University of Rizal. Eight years after the first implementation of the YLS in Rizal, it was in April 2010 when the YLS was conducted in Baguio-La Trinidad area. It is call from the Philippine Army (PA) in the Cordillera to implement the YLS in the country after PA felt the effects of the leadership summit to the youth. The implementation was handled and organized by the 5th Infantry Battalion (5IB) of the Philippine Army. For six years now, the YLS continued to expand in the Cordillera, the Philippine Army and Philippine conducted 12 YLS as of 2016 and trained more than 500 youth leaders across the region. In 2015, as the scope of the study, 10 batches of youth leaders had undergone the YLS totaling to 456 young leaders. On the other hand, the youth respondents have identified positive effects in terms of their personality, attitude, and practices. Lastly, the identified challenges include: lack of fund; unsuitable venue; insufficiency of materials; and unexciting speakers. The study recommends that the Cordillera Youth Leaders in partnership with other stakeholders may continue implementing the YLS since it affects the youth positively. Further, participatory planning and partner’s forum is encouraged to invite sponsors to minimize challenges during the program proper. The organizers and speakers may explore other teaching strategies to make the YLS more interactive and engaging. Lastly, the produced primer may be used to promote the YLS and encourage other youth to participate and other stakeholders to sponsor and partner. However, the primer may be subjected for editing, finalization, and approval.