Following its successful run in Davao and Bacolod City, the 3rd SEAOIL-Lead Like Jesse Robredo (LLJ), Emerging Leaders’ Camp was held recently in San Fernando City, La Union.
Fifty-six (56) student leaders from Northern Luzon attended the three-day program. They underwent leadership development exercises and workshops anchored on local and national realities.
“The SEAOIL- LLJ Camp aims to inspire and create more effective and principled Filipino leaders in government. We hope to motivate today’s youth by sharing with them leadership principles based on the life of former Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo,” said SEAOIL Foundation, Inc. (SFI) Director Dino Badilla.
The leadership camp encourages its participants to start practicing and promoting good governance and ethical leadership in their respective communities.
“We realize the value of stakeholder participation, like the youth, in the way Sec. Robredo governed in Naga. Ang kabataan ay hindi lang dapat pag-asa ng bayan, ang kabataan ay dapat maasahan din ng bayan [The youth should not only be the hope of the nation, they should also contribute to the nation’s progress],” shared John Carlo A. Manabat, a participant from St. Louis College.
Among the highlights of the three-day camp was a Community Project Proposal Making where the students proposed projects for their community and presented it to the panel headed by Mr. Badilla.
The pool of speakers included Kaya Natin! Champions for Good Governance. Former Mayor Mary Jane Ortega of San Fernando, La Union shared her thoughts on personal leadership; former Mayor of Santa Fe, Nueva Ecija and now Poro Point President Florante Gerdan discussed how to be an effective, empowering and ethical leader; and former Mayor Jun Verzosa of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur talked about promoting transparency, accountability and people’s participation.
“We have learned a lot from this program. Yes, we can strike a balance between critical and ethical thinking, but the question is, which should come first? For us, ethical thinking should come first. It is simply setting your mind to do good from the on-set and the rest will follow,” Alessandra Maria Papa from UP Baguio.
Thirty-one (31) student leaders completed the leaders’ camp on its first run in Davao City last April 23-25 and another forty-one (41) in Bacolod last June 18-20 SEAOIL eyes major areas in Batangas and Camarines Sur as locations for future SEAOIL-LLJ Camps this year.
The said Emerging Leaders’ Camp series is hosted by SEAOIL Foundation, and implemented in partnership with Kaya Natin! Movement and Jesse M. Robredo Foundation.
