Panata Ko Sa Bayan: The Economic Leaders’ Congress

MANILA, Philippines – With the almost constant distressing headlines preceding the news every day, a number of problems are undoubtedly plaguing the Philippines. The Pork Barrel scandal, the Spratly Islands issue, the threat of scrapping the Filipinos’ visa-free trips to Hong Kong, and typhoon Haiyan’s aftermath are just a few of the many matters that have been boiling to the surface lately.

Yet there seems to be one major problem that the entire country appears to have forgotten about – education. Being a multi-faceted problem, the teacher brain drain, the deficiency in educational infrastructures, and the unavailability of affordable yet quality education are just a few notable things under this umbrella.

Lawmakers throughout the Philippine history have strived to enact laws that provide valuable education for the youth, aptly dubbed as “the country’s future.” Quality education is not only a right but is a key to national development, which is why we, young Filipinos, should make sure that we get the Philippine Education that we ought to have.

A number of opportunities have been exploited by the youth in expressing their views on national issues, and while rallies, signature campaigns, and social media presence has inevitably helped the education advocacy, another innovative way of propagating youth involvement in the country has arrived: the Economic Leaders’ Conference.

The Economic Leaders’ Conference (ELC) is a conference organized by De La Salle University (DLSU)’s School of Economics Student Government (SEG). Now on its second year, ELC’s main agenda is to bring together the so-called “future of the country” to discuss relevant and timely issues that revolve around a particular theme.

The conference opts to be able to produce the Economic Youth Agenda (EYA), a document that will be formulated by the participants on issues discussed during the congress. It is with the EYA that students will be able to impart their ideas to local government officials in the hope of contributing to the nation’s bottomline.

This two-day conference will hold activities such as talks from distinguished speakers, workshops facilitated by DLSU’s student leaders, and a position paper contest amongst students from different high schools.

This year’s theme revolves on Philippine Education, entitled “Panata Ko sa Bayan: Education towards progressive citizenry.” Through this theme, the ELC hopes to initiate a productive discourse amongst the youth and urge them to clamor for solutions to the Philippines’ problem on education. We, are, after all, the future leaders of this country.

The Economic Leaders’ Congress 2013 will be held at the Henry Sy, Sr. Hall at De La Salle University-Manila from November 22 to 23, 2013.