(Photo grabbed from PPCRV-Youth Volunteers Facebook page)
PASIG City, March 11, 2013—In a bid to educate young people, mostly voters for the upcoming 2013 Midterm Elections, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) together with the National Capital Region (NCR) Youth Coordinating Council held the 1st PPCRV-NCR campus youth congress on March 8, 2013.
Attended by around 2,000 students from schools, colleges and universities around Metro Manila, the participants acquired knowledge on voter’s education and were also encouraged to volunteer for the 2013 elections.
Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chair Sixto Brillantes, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC, and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) Chair Henrietta de Villa graced the event.
Recognizing the significant role of young people in social transformation Brillantes, Luistro and De Villa pointed out the importance of the youth’s help and participation in the upcoming polls.
The event helped young people establish fraternity/fellowship among students in the private schools/colleges/universities with those in public schools/universities and colleges in NCR, especially students who are first time voters as well as those who are existing voters; and to animate interest of campus-based students in the coming elections and the succeeding ones, particularly in voters education and engage them in the formation of Clean, Honest, Accurate, Meaningful and Peaceful (CHAMP) campuses in their respective schools.
It also trained the participants as PPCRV volunteers for the 7 types of poll watchers and facilitated their inclusion in the volunteer’s database.
The congress also helped in establishing a PPCRV youth core group in every school for sustaining CHAMP campuses that will move forward youth engagement in elections from “Pang Eleksyon Na, Pang Habang Panahon Pa.”
Themed “Kilos Kabataan: CHAMP 2013”, the congress was held last March 8, 2013 at the Pasig Catholic College was spearheaded by the National Capital Region (NCR) Youth Coordinating Council and PPCRV, in collaboration with the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association (MAPSA) and the Catechetical Foundation of the Archdiocese of Manila (CFAM).
In his homily, Msgr. Gerardo Santos of CEAP, MAPSA and CFAM, emphasized the importance of God’s love for humanity and loving one’s country in return.
“God is love. We were created out of the love of God. Therefore, we should also love each other by loving our country,” Santos said.
He said the coming elections is a venue where this love for one another and one’s country could be concretely manifested.
The event culminated with a candle lighting ceremony and a commitment pledge by the leaders of NCR-YCC and the participants.
Aside from the sessions, workshops and the Mass, the event includes CHAMP tsunami game championship and the actual demonstration of a mock election through a polling place for the young participants to learn and experience the process. (Jandel Posion)
