MANILA, Feb. 25, 2013—While life and family issues have become central to the consideration of candidates for the May 13 elections, related themes will be taken up in a forum at the University of the Philippines (UP). Sustainability and social responsibility as they relate to campaigning and voting will be the topics of a forum, with a sociologist and a TV journalist sharing their insights on the issues.
Specific themes to be tackled in the activity are Vote Now, Pay Later, about valuing sustainability in campaign propaganda and public policy, and Botong Tipid, Botong Sulit, on valuing the vote as a social responsibility.
World Youth Parliament (WYP) – UP, the school chapter of an international forum involving young people and the fundamental issues that concern them, has organized Combo sa Boto, which gives students and members of different youth groups a chance to engage two specialists from different fields on the topics at hand: sociologist and UP professor Gerry Lanuza, and TV journalist Joey Villarama.
“The World Youth Parliament is an international organization of youth that was established in Spain in 1991. When it was first convened, the WYP produced a document called the Magna Carta of Values for a New Civilization which highlights 10 values to which the youth must commit themselves in order to bring about change,” said Kiboy Tabada, one of the volunteers for WYP-UP.
“This Magna Carta is the message which the WYP now carries and promotes through various activities. In the Philippines, there are WYP Chapters in AdMU and UP.”
Tabada helped organize WYP-UP, and the WYP’s message of youthful hope and commitment, articulated in the Magna Carta, is now carried by a small community of students in the University of the Philippines who intend to further the work the Parliament has begun, the student said.
“In an effort to promote the Magna Carta, we are organizing Combo sa Boto: a forum on values-based voting as a timely opportunity to initiate a discourse on values and their importance in our exercise of suffrage. It is our belief that one’s choice of candidates ought to be based on a system of values that constitutes a standard,” he stated in a written invitation.
Slated on Feb. 27, the forum will be held at the Delaney Hall behind the UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice, UP campus, Diliman, Quezon City, from 4-6 pm.
Representatives of schools, student groups and youth organizations are invited to Combo sa Boto. For more details, please coordinate with Ms. Marielle Marcaida at 0916-7878-281 or Ms. Aimee Bautista at 0927-9461-255. (CBCP for Life)
