Gloria gives SK P10M for "Green Philippines"

CEBU - The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) national federation got P10 million from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday as equity fund for her program — the Green Philippines campaign.

The President, in her speech, called on the more than 2,000 youth gathered in the three-day national congress at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino to be part of her Green Philippines agenda and respond to this call to action to bring new and innovative thinking on land management, care for the environment and ways to create jobs and have a clean, socially responsible environmental policy.

Arroyo said that her administration has been working tirelessly to address challenges arising from the slowdown in the global economy combined with high oil and food prices and yet many things are still left undone in fulfilling the Philippine Reform agenda.

“The SK is important to our agenda because we are in fact a young nation. Our people are young. We are a young nation. Our democracy is 60 years old. The growing pains are still with us,” the President said. (SK convention photos on page10)

The chief executive also called for a “vision of a young nation” wherein the youth of this nation are the ones who have the energy to make their dreams come true and it is now the time to get involved in civic life and to take action and responsibility and work within the system to make a better world.

The President also asked the youth to join her in her Green Philippines campaign wherein the country must take back our forest and replenish fallen trees with new, protected forest to protect our land the our people.

The President is also tapping the youth to beautify our dirty barangays and cities, build more urban parks and recreation areas and clean up unhealthy and eyesore industrial sites.

“We need the will of the people to encourage the political leaders to embrace this new, Green Philippines. The Philippines can become a model of environmental stewardship within ten years. I have strong faith in our youth and today’s young leaders. I know you will not shirk from these challenges,” she said.

The SK on the other hand made a manifesto of support for the President.

“We are rejecting the new impeachment complaint filed against President for being destructive and divisive in nature and we see no redemptive value in such a senseless, out-of-step political action that can only exacerbate the nation’s economic problems, weaken and disable the national leadership in coping with an impending national financial and economic crisis,” the manifesto reads.

They also accept the challenges set upon the youth sector by the societal pressures and paramount expectations, and responding to the call for active participation and dynamism of youth participation in nation building as provided for in the Constitution.

The SK leadership also abhors the elements and proponents of attempts and plots to destabilize the economy, blur the political system and tarnish the administration’s persona thru infamous tactics and dirty political gimmickry.

They also believed the sincere and enduring efforts of the Arroyo administration to move the country forward to a sustainable development through youth as they responded to the call of the administration for unity.

“Taking into the consideration of the above realities, we boldly manifest our whole-hearted and solid support to the administration, leadership and endeavours of President Arroyo,” the manifesto further read. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)