Report on Youth Development in Naga City:

A Dream of the Philippines for Youth

A Partnership Between the City of Naga and the University of British Columbia

Submitted to Mayor Robredo,

The Naga City Planning Department,
and Dr Nora Angeles

Paola Cassaigne,
Daniel Gerson, Meg Faulkner,
Diana Leung, and
Charlotte Humphries
On June 6, 2007
Acknowledgements

This research project would not have been possible without the generous help, guidance and
smiles of countless City staff, dedicated community members and Nagueño youth. The UBC
Team for Youth Development extends our heartfelt thanks to members of the Ateneo de Naga
University Student Council, Councilor Allen Reondanga, members of the Sangguniang Kabataan,
Sir Reuel Barrios, Mary Andre Lim, members of Kalipi, the Missionaries of the Poor, Youth for
Christ, Sarah and Sarah, and Father Louis, for their willingness to speak with us and for sharing
so many insights.

We thank the youth in Pacol for sharing with us their magical dreams, and Mrs. Doringo, Mrs.
Ramirez and Mr. Clerigo for making that day possible. We also thank the members of the 2007
City Youth Officials, especially Nhel and Sally for their constant support and the brave and kind
Ateneo de Naga University volunteers for showing us the ropes.

We certainly could not have completed this report without the support of Aloha, Miguel,
Carmela and little Jacob, at Surfer’s Outpost internet café.

To Rose, Chit, Jerry and Willy, from the Naga City Planning Department; you have shown us
true generosity. We are grateful to Vice Mayor Bordado and Mayor Robredo for giving us this
opportunity and opening the doors to City Hall. Finally, we send out our love to Dr. Nora
Angeles, a professor like no other! We are grateful for all your courage, support and warmth.

Salamat po! Dyos mabalos po!

The UBC Team for Youth Development

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Executive Summary

I. Introduction
Limitations

A. Core Concepts
1. Supporting a Healthy Youth + Community Equation
Figure 1.0: Healthy Youth + Community Equation
2. Fostering Multiple Styles of Youth Citizenship
Box 1.0: Types of Citizens
3. Engaging Youth Partners in Collaborative Governance
4. Guiding Principles of Youth Development

B. Naga Context
1. Youth and Local Governance in Naga
2. Youth in Naga

II. Recommendations

A. Naga City Youth Development Framework

B. Key Findings
Table 1.0: SWOT Analysis
C. Definitions and Relationships
Figure 2.0: Relationship between Programs
1. Benefits

D. Youth Development Plan.

1. Great Practices
2. Actions and Strategies

E. Youth Coordination Council

1. Great Practices
2. Actions and Strategies

F. Youth Coordination Office

1. Great Practices
2. Actions and Strategies

G. Opportunities and Challenges

1. Opportunities
2. Challenges

III. Recommendations to Improve Existing Programs

A. Recommendations for the Improvement of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)

B. Recommendations for the Improvement of the City Youth Officials Program
(CYO)

IV. Recommendations for the Establishment of New Programs

A. Youth Operated Community Garden

1. Key Findings
2. Great Practices
3. Actions and Strategies
 4. Challenges and Opportunities

B. Youth Health Promotion

1. Key Findings
2. Great Practices
Figure 3.0: Global Youth Voices Six Phase Model
3. Actions and Strategies
4. Opportunities
5. Challenges

C. Creation of a Heritage Preservation Course

D. Collective Remittances for Youth Development in Naga

1. Key Findings
2. Great Practices
3. Actions and Strategies
4. Challenges

V. Toolkit

A. Youth Engagement Tools

1. Youth Friendly Checklist
2. Accessibility
3. Promotion of Youth Engagement
4. Partnerships
5. Capacity-Building

B. Youth Development and Community Building

1. Visioning
2. Community Mapping for Youth in Naga
3. Communications
4. E-Governance for Youth in Naga
5. Media Technology
a. Access to Media Education Society (AMES)
b. Community Radio: Youth Voice FM

C. Data Gathering and Record Keeping

1. Youth Participatory Research and Evaluation
2. Youth Participatory Monitoring Framework

VI. Conclusion

APPENDICES:

APPENDIX SECTION A: Tools

A-1: Participatory Monitoring Framework
A-2: Youth Engagement Assessment Chart

APPENDIX B: Programs and Recommendations

B-1: Whitehorse Youth Development Plan Risk and Protective Factors Chart
B-2: Naga City Youth Coordination Council Framework
B-3: Heritage Course Curriculum Outline

APPENDIX C: Research Question Process Development

C-1: Seven-Step Model – Development of a Research Question
APPENDIX D: Interviews
D-1: City Youth Officials (CYO)
D-2: Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)
D-3: Youth of the Pacol Urban Poor Community
D-4: SK Chairperson
D-5: CYO Individual Member
D-6: Kalipi
D-7: Brother of the Missionaries for the Poor in Barangay Cararayan
In my vision I saw many things that I love. I
was very grateful that people were united
to do good things. I saw my family very
happy because they have a good life. It is
because of my dreams that I fulfill. I saw
Philippines is now a better place. There are
no poor people, no crimes, no corruption in
the government, no shortage problems.
I wish that what I saw today is real one
day.
Carl. 16 years old. Pacol.
About the Authors

Paola, Dan, Megan, Diana, and Charlotte are completing their Master’s in planning at the
School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Paola Cassaigne – As a child, Paola could be found speaking out in school against the unfair
treatment of others or perhaps in a back yard, scrambling up a tree. Today, she brings that
same passion and enthusiasm to the work she carries out. Paola is studying social planning and
international development and she is always ready to catch a glimpse of magic in the world
around her.

Daniel Gerson – Dan’s studies in youth engagement and social development have taken him
from Vancouver, to Brazil, and now to Naga City. If he isn’t dancing on stage at Plaza Quezon,
you’ll probably find Dan sharing a coffee and meal with a friend, deep in friendly discussion.

Megan Faulkner – Though a long time ago, Megan used to get in trouble with her teachers for
being little ‘miss messy’ in class, today she is a stand out student, studying heritage planning
and international development. The wonderful people she has met in Naga City will inspire her
forever.

Diana Leung – Diana’s interest are in youth engagement, housing, and cultural heritage. Her
skills are wide and dazzling; she climbs bookshelves, choreographs techno dances and infuses
her life with an artistic touch.

Charlotte Humphries – Clumsy Charlotte is always breaking things, but she feels the world can
be mended with all the goodness and warmth she finds in places like Naga City. She is studying
social planning and hopes to work youth when she ‘grows up’.
Executive Summary

Current research into youth development shows that cities can take proactive steps to promote
youth health, well-being and positive values. According to this research, a youth-friendly city
is one that considers the importance of interactions between youth and their communities,
presents youth with opportunities to participate in a range of civic activities, thus enacting
varying degrees of citizenship, and one that promotes collaborative governance.

Since 1990, researchers and practitioners focusing on youth development have acknowledged
the importance of participatory and collaborative approaches, wherein youth are considered
active agents in their own development. This new paradigm is directly related to a totally new
understanding of youth, not viewing them as a problem but as assets for community
development.

Youth development is understood as an ongoing process, which should result in all youth being
able to meet their basic physical and social needs, develop individual assets and competencies,
and engage with their communities.

The recommendations proposed in this report are guided by three core

principles:

• Supporting a Healthy Youth + Community Equation. The positive development of youth

happens not in programs but in healthy communities. At the same time, healthy and
engaged youth can foster positive transformations in their communities. Today, youth
policies and program are centered on youth-adult partnership, stressing the importance
of the reciprocal relation among communities and youth.

• Fostering Multiple Styles of Youth Citizenship. Policy-makers and youth workers must
consider what it takes for youth to be active citizens. There are different kinds of
citizens that relate to different kinds and levels of youth engagement.

• Engaging Youth Partners in Collaborative Governance. While public participation exists

as a vital ingredient of good governance, public participation does not equate to an
engaged citizenry. Many issues faced by youth are equally complex and, as such,
effective governance approaches must include this group as a collaborative partner in
developing youth-specific resolutions.

In this report there are three levels of recommendations: the first level addresses a framework
for youth development; the second level speaks to the existing programs while the third level
proposes the creation of new ones. Finally, the last level refers to specific methods and
techniques to encourage youth organizing and youth engagement.

The Naga City Youth Development Framework brings together and coordinates the interaction
of three supportive structures:

• Youth Development Plan: a policy document created through a youth-driven process

outlining the various actors within Naga’s youth development landscape and the way
each contributes to a shared vision of the future.
• Youth Coordination Council: a large umbrella organization that links different youth
groups with one another in order to assist them in developing functional, sustainable,
healthy, and cooperative relationships. The council would also be focused on working
toward the inclusion of all youth in Naga in youth development programs and
organizations, in making such programs available and accessible to all, and in
developing a youth citizenry that is comprised of competent, strong, socially conscious
people.
 • Youth Coordination Office: a body the puts into practice the policies stated in the
Youth Development Plan. It would be founded on partnerships between community
members, service providers and the government, and would serve to coordinate youth
services in Naga and provide a centralized access point to information about these
services for all Nagueños.

In the Recommendations for Existing Programs there are proposals on how the
Sangguniang Kabataan and the City Youth Officials can play a critical role in
the three structures described above. It also stressed the importance of
modifying some functions and methods to foster a comprehensive positive
development of youth in Naga.

In the Recommendations for the Establishment of New Programs there are three suggestions
to tackle specific challenges that youth in Naga face, building on some youth and community
assets that were encountered during the research.

• Youth Operated Community Garden: we propose to create a youth run and youth
maintained Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project.
• Youth Health Promotion: we recommend that youth become partners in the Naga
Hearts and Minds program in order to bring the program more in line with youth
engagement strategies, and enhance its effectiveness.
• Establishment of a Heritage Preservation Course: we recommend that Ateneo de Naga
University establish a course in the preservation of local heritage, both built and
cultural. The course would act as a tool for community investment as youth would be
learning to research Naga’s rich history by interviewing elders of the community on
their lives and their spaces. Youth would also be acquiring skills in the areas of
photography, qualitative and quantitative research, and architectural discourse.
• Collective Remittances for Youth Development in Naga: we recommend creating a
system and structure to direct a small amount of the remittances flow towards
sustainable youth community development projects, building the capacity of youth to
support each other locally by working globally.

The Toolkit for Youth Engagement which comprises techniques developed by

youth organizations around the globe. Some of these tools are:
• Youth Friendly Checklist
• Youth Development and Community Building (Visioning Techniques and Community
Mapping, Communications, E-Governance for Youth in Naga and Media Technology)
• Data Gathering and Record Keeping (Youth Participatory Research and Evaluation
Participatory Monitoring Framework)
I. Introduction
Current research into youth development
shows that cities can take proactive steps to
promote youth health, well-being and positive
values. According to this research, a youth-
friendly city is one that considers the
importance of interactions between youth and
their communities, presents youth with
opportunities to participate in a range of civic
activities, thus enacting varying degrees of
citizenship, and one that promotes
collaborative governance.
Taking into consideration this current thought
on youth development, the UBC Team for
Youth Development conducted a study of
youth experiences in Naga City. The findings
from this study are based on demographic
research, interviews, focus groups, workshops
and observations. In general, we found that
Naga City’s strengths in participatory
governance and progressive youth engagement
strategies provide a strong foundation for its
youth services, programs and activities. These
strengths are exemplified by the prominence
of such programs as the Sangguniang Kabataan
(SK) and the City Youth Officials (CYO). While
programs such as these have a significant
impact on participants, we found limitations
in the access to these programs, in the
coordination of youth services within and
beyond the City, and in the institutionalization
of capacity-building within youth development
programs.
We believe that Naga’s governance system and
strong commitment to youth development
puts Naga in a favourable position to pursue
an enhanced youth development strategy. As
such, our report outlines a set of
recommendations which are meant to
complement current youth development
efforts.
Our report begins with a short summary of
current theories on youth development in
cities and an analysis of the Naga context.
Next, we outline our main recommendation,
which is to develop a Naga Youth Development
Framework, which would encompass three
recommended courses of action: (1) the
creation of a Youth Development Plan, which
would outline (2) the mandates of a Youth
Development Council and (3) the function of a
Youth Coordination Office. In the next
section, we provide an analysis of two
successful government-led youth programs,
the SK and the CYO, as well as
recommendations for their enhancement.
Next we propose a series of new programs.
Finally, we end the report with a Toolkit,
which includes a set of tools and strategies
meant to guide policy-makers, youth-workers
or community members in the pursuit of
institutionalized youth development.
Limitations
As with any research, we recognize that our
understanding of the Naga City youth
development context reflects our positions as
visitors, as well as the nature of our visit to
Naga. Indeed, as we engaged in research, we
encountered a number of challenges related
to data collection; we had a limited amount of
time to gather data, we were unable to access
detailed data on youth demographics for Naga,
and we were unable to access records of past
program activities and participants in youth
programs. In addition, able-bodied, in-school,
and English-speaking youth are over-
represented in the research sample, as we
were less able to interact with marginalized or
non-mainstream youth populations. Finally,
data collection techniques were influenced by
the our inability to Speak Tagalog or Bicolano.
Nonetheless we are confident that the
recommendations put forth represent great
practices in youth development and if
enacted, would participate in the
enhancement of an already progressive,
friendly and happy city. An Maogmang Lugar!
 A. Core Concepts
Adolescence is a time of transformations.
Youth at this stage experience rapid physical,
psychological, social, and cultural changes;
they explore and develop their identities and
question their place in the world. Generally,
youth also begin to deconstruct their
environment. With appropriate guidance, they
may increase their awareness of social,
cultural, and political issues that affect their
lives. This is a critical moment during which
strategic youth-focused programs must foster
youth engagement and leadership in positive
action for social change.
In the 1960s, public policies and programs
began reflecting an interest in understanding
systemic problems that youth face. Up until
the 1980s, youth policies and programs
focused on alternative services and
preventative measures to help so-called
‘problematic youth’. By 1990, youth
development was increasingly being addressed
through participatory and collaborative
approaches wherein youth were considered
active agents in their own development. This
transition from understanding youth as a
problem, to viewing them as young people
whose assets should be nurtured within
communities represents a paradigm shift in
youth service provision.
1. Supporting a Healthy Youth + al 2002).
Community Equation
Today, youth policies and program are
centered on the importance of youth-adult
partnerships. Youth development is
understood as an ongoing process, which
should result in all youth being able to meet
their basic physical and social needs, develop
individual assets and competencies, and
engage with their communities. In turn,
healthy, engaged youth can then foster
positive transformations in their communities.
This paradigm of youth development stresses
the importance of reciprocal relationships
between community and youth; this is the
healthy youth + community equation.
Figure 1.0: Healthy Youth + Community Equation
(Pittman 2000: 23)
2. Fostering Multiple Styles of Youth
Citizenship
At the core of the relationship between
healthy youth and healthy communities, is the
idea of citizenship. While there is no absolute
definition of citizenship, the concept should
encompass the implication of an individual’s
connection to a group, community or nation,
in addition to a sense of the democratic rights
and responsibilities. A democratic society
depends on citizens to make informed
judgments.
In considering youth engagement, policy-
makers and youth workers must consider what
it takes for youth to be active citizens.
Citizenship can take on many forms; it can
involve carrying out good behaviour, activism
or even action to improve a nation (Sherrod et
Different kinds of youth engagement and
participation mirror these differing levels of
citizenship; youth can provide services
(voluntarism, community service and fund
raising), political engagement, youth
organizing for positive community change,
youth participatory research and evaluation,
and youth participation in decision making and
governance.
During the course of PLAN 548H, guest
presenters repeatedly lamented the lack of
political engagement or activism in Naga youth
today. While many factors exist that may
attribute to this phenomenon (e.g. relatively
more stable political environment), it is
important to look at how youth programs and
policies may influence the level of youth
citizen engagement and the development of
the kind of citizens of the future in Naga.
 We propose to examine current and proposed
youth programs and policies in the context of
developing three types of citizenship:
Personally responsible, participatory, and
activist citizen (Wesheimer and Kahne 2004;
see Box 1.0 for a detailed description of the
three types).
Box 1.0 Types of Citizens
Personally responsible citizen
• Acts responsibly in their community (e.g. obeys
laws, pays taxes, recycles, volunteers during
crises)
• Idealizes the honest and responsible citizens
Participatory citizen
• Actively engages with community organizations
and/or improvement efforts
• Organizes efforts and has solid understanding of
effective strategies and government agencies
• Believes in citizen leadership within established
systems
Activist citizen
• Seeks out and addresses areas of injustice
• Critically assesses underlying social, political,
and economic structure that lead to injustices
• Understands social movements and how to affect
systemic change
• See citizen debates and systemic change as
solution to social justice
The three types of citizen described above
hold valuable qualities that can help build an
effective Nagueño citizenry, and as such, it is
crucial to develop each one of these engaged
citizen types. This classification is not
comprehensive but outlines a framework we
can use to assess and situate youth programs
and policies in relation to the kinds of
citizenship they foster.
3. Engaging Youth Partners
Collaborative Governance
While public participation exists as a vital
ingredient of good governance, public
participation does not equate to an engaged
citizenry. According to Newman et al (2004),
public participation may increase political
interest but it may also fuel public
dissatisfaction when citizens are not
collaboratively engaged with their
governments. Complex issues such as social
exclusion, inequalities, and community
regeneration, for example, require a
collaborative approach to governance to
develop appropriate solutions. Many issues
faced by youth are equally complex and, as
such, effective governance approaches must
include this group as a collaborative partner in
developing youth-specific resolutions.
As always, establishing organizational
frameworks to include youth as partners is not
enough to ensure youth development. A
number of factors could negatively affect how
youth partnership in collaborative governance
can function. Some of the factors include
tokenism or symbolic representation, declining
motivation, and insufficient acknowledge,
which may debilitate any potential that a
youth-adult partnership model can bring.
The following guidelines reflect some lessons
learned by organizations collaborating with
youth:
• Demonstrate respect for youth voice
and competency
• Delegate legitimate authority and
responsibility
• Establish a positive adult-youth
relationship
• Ensure youth belonging and
connectedness to organization and
mission
• Allow youth to work on teams with
peers
• Acknowledge and give credit to youth
work
4. Guiding Principles of Youth
Development
The recommendations which follow are
grounded in the authors’ conviction in the
in following three guiding principles. We believe
youth development should
1. Support a healthy youth + community
equation
2. Foster multiple styles of youth citizenship
3. Engage youth partners in collaborative
governance
B. Naga Context
1. Youth and Local Governance in Naga
Participatory governance in Naga is regarded
as one of the best practices in local
governance, nationally, as well as
internationally, by the United Nations (Angeles
2007; Naga City website 2007). Two legal
innovative tools are the foundation of this
successful model: the Local Government Code
and the Empowerment Ordinance. The former
is enforced at a national level, while the
latter was created and assumed at a local
level.
1. Local Government Code
Following the authoritarian rule of 1965 -1986
President Ferdinand Marcos, provinces and
civil society groups rejected the concept of
centralized government. The Local
Government Code was then established in
1991 to decentralize and devolve powers to
local government units (LGUs). The new
framework of decentralized government set a
better foundation for improving government –
local civil society relationship in at least four
ways.
i. Promote the empowerment of civil
society organizations and foster
greater collaboration between
government and these organizations in
program implementation and decision-
making processes (Angeles 2007; UN
Habitat and Citynet 1997)
ii. Ensure that local governments had an
acute understanding of their
constituents’ needs and priorities
(Angeles 2007; UN Habitat and Citynet
1997)
iii. Ensure government accountability,
political transparency, efficiency, and
equity in resource deployment
(Angeles 2007; UN Habitat and Citynet
1997)
iv. Enable LGUs to assume new financial
responsibilities and restructuring
(Angeles and Magno 2004; Angeles
2007)
Since the late 1980s, decentralization became
the tool of participatory governance as an
approach to ensuring greater inclusion of all
stakeholders in decision making processes
(Angeles 2007). Naga City took advantage of
this and began experimenting with the tool of
participatory governance to maximize the
possibilities of the LGC in improving quality of
life and advancing a progressive political
culture. One of the many outcomes was the
creation of the Naga City People’s Council
(Angeles 2007).
2. Empowerment Ordinance
“The will of the people shall always reign
supreme.”
Section 1. Ordinance 95-092
One of the key elements that has made Naga
such a successful model is the Ordinance 95-
092, also known as the “Empowerment
Ordinance”. This ordinance initiated a system
for partnerships among NGOs and POs in Naga
and the City Government. It institutionalizes
community participation and stakeholder
involvement in the design, implementation
and evaluation of programs and projects.
Through the creation of the Naga City People’s
Council (NCPC), representatives of NGOs and
POS participate in all stages of policies and
programs targeting local development.
Members of the NCPC also have participation
and decision-making power in all City
Government bodies.
At the core of this system, is the recognition
that a democratic society is only possible if
the government and the organizations of the
civil society work in partnership to reach a
common vision. This tool fosters the right that
each individual has to create a better
community. It acknowledges that each sector
of the community has its own needs and
priorities. In order to address them it is
critical to incorporate local knowledge and
expertise, as well as encourage collaboration
among the different sectors of society, and
with the government.
2. Youth in Naga
In Naga City, youth in the Philippines are
divided into four sub-sectors: in-school youth
are youth who are attending formal or non-
school based educational programs
“recognized by the state”, while out-of-school
youth are not enrolled in any school and are
unemployed (Reondanga 2002: 1). Working
youth refers to youth engaged in any kind of
work. Special youth describes those
individuals suffering from any form of
disability (ibid).
In Naga, youth are defined by individuals
between fifteen to thirty years old. Youth in
Naga make up 64% of its total population,
making this segment of the population the
largest in this city (calculated based on
statistics from State of Children in Naga City,
[no date]). This raises enormous challenges
and opportunities for youth and community
development as well as for local governance.
1. Government Programs
Naga City Hall has responded with a number of
local and national programs that aim to
develop young Nagueños into engaged
citizens. The most representative ones are the
Sangguniang Kabataan and the City Youth
Officials. In addition, the youth representation
on the Naga City People’s Council offer an
collaborate structure to youth engagement in
governance.
• Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)
The nationally affiliated Sangguniang
Kabataan (youth council) was created and
defined by the Local Government Code in 1991
to institutionalize youth engagement in local
governance, such that a youth council exists in
each one of the 43,000 barangay nationwide
(Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific 2000; National Youth Commission
1997).
In each barangay there are 7 councilors and 1
chair. They hold one general assembly per
year, in which all youth of the barangay are
invited. They also hold assemblies every four
months with the Kilusang Kabataan para sa
Kaunlaran assembly (the registered voters of
the SK) to decide the activities the SK will
undertake, to allocate the budget, and render
accomplishment reports.
The SK chairs of the 27 barangays in Naga form
a federation. The president of the federation
becomes a councilor in their Local
Government.
• City Youth Officials (CYO)
This program was created by the
“Proclamation No. 89-011” in 1989. The aim of
the CYO program is to help youth of Naga to
understand how the government works, as a
result, the CYO are required to spend one
month working in City Hall alongside their
counterparts; besides that, they are required
to do field work for 15 more days.
The activities undertaken in the field are
decided solely by the 46 members of the CYO,
according to what they perceive as the
interest of youth.
• Youth Council Representation in Naga
City People’s Council (NCPC)
The NCPC is the umbrella organization that
brings together a representative of different
sectors of the society, created under the
mandate of the “Empowerment Ordinance”.
Youth are also represented in the NCPC and,
as any other member of the council, the youth
representative also has participation and
decision-making power in a body of the City
Government.
2. Key findings
The UBC Team for Youth Development carried
out several interviews, focus groups,
workshops and informal discussions with city
officials, youth organizations, community
youth, and youth belonging to formal
organizations. In this section we summarize
the key finding that are the basis for our
recommendations:
• There are key structures already set in
place for youth participation
• There is a vital culture of participation
among many of the youth sectors
• Youth perceptions were that there are
so many youth organizations and
activities happening independently of
each other and that somehow
potential is being lost without a
formal means of coordination
• Members of youth organizations are
aware of other programs in the City
and in some cases participate in more
than one simultaneously.
• Members of youth organizations
perceive a lack of collaboration
between youth organizations
• The stated goals and objectives of
many of the organizations are very
similar, creating a great opportunity in
Naga for cooperation, collaboration,
increased participation, and the
sharing of funds, projects, and ideas
among the many youth organizations
• There is no centralized access point
for youth to learn about or engage in
youth organizations or programs in
Naga City.
• Information about organizations and
programs is accessed mostly through
word of mouth or the radio
• Access to different youth organizations
and programs is uneven, pointing to
the existence of various circles of
youth engagement (the church,
political organizations) which do not
necessarily mix or collaborate
together
• While in school youth are well
represented in youth organizations
there seems to be an under-
representation of out-of-school,
working, and special youth
• There is insufficient data about the
different sectors of youth and there is
not enough gender analysis of youth
• While there is a big interest for
delivering services to the youth, there
are no institutionalized strategies for
assessing their needs, interests and
priorities of the different sectors and
genders
• There is a negative representation of
some sectors of the youth, potentially
due to a lack of understanding about
their needs and circumstances
• Youth recognized that most of the
difficulties they face are a
consequence of challenges in the
community, such as: poverty, lack of
parental guidance, lack of spiritual
guidance, lack of unity, lack of
employment opportunities
• While Nagueño youth feel they need
to migrate to find better opportunities
in the future, they feel it is their
responsibility to improve the living
conditions in Naga
II. Recommendations 1. Key Findings

A. Naga City Youth Development Framework Discussions with members of Naga City youth
organizations, as well as members of the
The city of Naga has a strong reputation for general youth population revealed that
planning. It recognizes the need to plan in despite strong youth programming in the City,
collaborative, inclusive ways. A Naga Youth coordination was necessary to improve
Development Framework (NYDF) would build efficiency in distribution of services and
on this strong culture of planning, while programs. Key findings are outlined in Table
pushing it in new and dynamic directions. 1.0 below represented in a SWOT analysis
Many of the pieces needed to create the (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
framework already exist. A deep Threats):
understanding of the importance of
coordination and the value of both Table 1.0 SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
participatory governance and youth Analysis of the Key Findings
engagement support a relatively strong
Strengths Weaknesses
service base for youth. Guided by our key
1. Lots of programs 1. Need effective coordination
principles (supporting a healthy youth + 2. Motivated citizens between youth
community equation, fostering multiple 3. Principles of youth organizations
styles of youth citizenship, and engaging engagement and 2. Require a common vision
administration amongst youth organization
youth partners in collaborative governance)
4. Engagement at the 3. Programs may not be
the NYDF would strengthen and barangay level (e.g. SK) accessible to all youth
institutionalize what Nagueños have been 5. Recognition of the needs (exclusionary)
working long to foster: a city that supports a of out of school youth 4. Current youth-focused
(e.g. the creation of programs serve few
healthy youth population, valuing their voice
NCCYA) interests
and encouraging their collaboration at every 6. Current work on youth 5. There is little research
level of community and city governance. council (NCCYA) developed on youth in Naga
6. Youth programs requires
more formalize process

Opportunities Threats
1. Address inclusion of
marginalized groups
explicitly (e.g. gender,
socio-economic status,
etc.)
2. Build local capacity,
particularly through
youth governance
3. Develop a strong culture
of planning
4. Foster more coordinated
efforts amongst youth
and other organizations
5. Attract more funding (tap
into international
sources!)
1. Limited budgets
2. Change in political
leadership
3. The SK program is endanger
of being cut
4. The perception of youth
disinterest towards political
engagement
5. Negative perception of ‘out
of school’ youth
6. Poverty of youth and their
families
7. Disruption and instability in
families
 2. Definitions and Relationships 3. Benefits

Youth Development Plan: A policy document The creation of an NYDF would have a double
outlining the various actors within Naga’s benefit:
youth development landscape and the way
each contributes to a shared vision of the First, this framework would clearly coordinate
future. It provides the mandate and the the various departments within the city,
guiding principles/core concepts for the Youth NGOs, and the private sector, in relation to
Coordination office and the Youth national and state youth initiatives, leading
Coordination Council. to:
• More effective delivery of youth
Youth Coordination Council: A Youth Council services: fewer overlaps and gaps
is a large umbrella organization that links • More efficient and effective
different youth groups with one another in dissemination of youth related
order to assist them in developing functional, information to Naga’s youth
sustainable, healthy, and cooperative communities and the city at large
relationships. The Council works alongside the • Greater youth input and engagement
office in coordinating the implementation of in local governance
the Youth Development Plan. • Improved data gathering and
monitoring of youth related activities
Youth Coordination Office: An office that and the overall well being of Naga’s
coordinates youth programs in the city, youth communities
provides an access point to the community and • More coordinated information sharing
to youth organizations for information about and lessons learned among
youth development issues. It implements the departments and organizations
policies laid out in the Youth Development • A clearer understanding of each
Plan, and supports the activities of the Youth body’s role to achieving an overall
Coordination Council. vision
• A clearer understanding of the system
For an illustration of the relationship between for outsiders
the three components of the Development
• Attracting new NGOs and external
Framework see Figure 2.0 below.
funding sources for youth initiatives,
while furthering Naga’s reputation as
Figure 2.0: Youth Development Framework - Relationship a forward thinking city in the realm of
between Programs participatory governance

The second benefit to the youth of Naga would

be found within the development of the
framework itself. In order for the NYDF to
clearly reflect the realities, values, needs,
and dreams of all its youth, the creation of
the framework would need to be highly
collaborative and youth-driven. The process
would unfold in three large stages: collecting
information, visioning, and determining
actions. Each step offers potentials to
experiment with new methods of youth
engagement and participatory governance,
supporting a healthy youth + community
equation, fostering multiple styles of youth
citizenship, and engaging youth partners in
collaborative governance
Youth Community Organizing
 B. Youth Development Plan
Recommendation 1: Create a Youth
Development Plan through a youth-driven
process that ensures every opportunity to
support a healthy youth + community
equation, foster multiple styles of youth
citizenship, and engage youth in collaborative
governance. This plan will mandate the
creation of a youth coordination office and
council.
1. Great Practices:
These two examples of Municipal Youth Plans
were chosen to represent different approaches
to the task of youth development planning.
Both have relevant lessons for Naga City.
Great Practice 1
Vancouver’s Civic Youth Strategy was developed in 1995 to address the
lack of coordination among city departments and create overall policy
direction regarding the role of youth in City Hall. The document
presents an interesting model for Naga in two key ways: its detailed
cross-departmental analysis of everything youth related, and its
formulation of core objectives and guiding principles.
Strengths of the Model for Naga:
Plan Development
• Overseen by a multi-departmental committee including youth
members
• Conducted an extensive review of every department’s
involvement with youth and their levels of communication and
coordination with other departments.
• Gathered and compiled statistical data relating to youth and
youth risk including:
o School attendance rates
o Youth in care of social services
o Youth and poverty
o Street youth
o Youth health (including teen pregnancy, mental
health, suicide)
o Crime stats including violence
Plan Content
• Strong set of core objectives that reflect the youth +
community equation, multiple styles of citizenship and
collaborative partnerships:
1. Ensure youth have a PLACE in the city
2. Strong youth VOICE in decision making
3. Promote youth as RESOURCE to the city
4. Strengthen SUPPORT base for youth in City
• Strong guiding principles:
1. Strong youth involvement at local level
2. Partnership in planning and implementation
3. Assistance and support rather than control and
management
Function:
• Takes a long term approach and acts as a guiding document
accessible to all departments and city council.
Limitations of the model:
• Youth consultation was limited to a one day consultation
workshop attended only by 100+ youth and as such lacks a
strong participatory/consultative base.
• The document lacks specific actions and time objectives and as
such lacks a commitment to action.
• Does not include any analysis of other youth agencies outside of
city hall (NGOs, provincial and federal governments, private
sector)
Great Practice 2
Whitehorse, Australia’s municipal youth plan, “titled Y
Plan? 2006-2008…identifies and outlines key actions that
Council and the Whitehorse community can take to help the
City’s youth”1. In contrast to Vancouver’s policy document,
the Whitehorse planners made a short term (3 year) action
plan, clearly outlining goals and objectives, and actions to
take them there.
Strengths of Model
Plan Development
• The steering committee consisted of 2 Councilors,
representatives from various Council departments,
local service providers and two young people
• Identification of current Federal, State, and Local
government approaches to youth development
• Risk and Protective Factors table: highlighting
various categories of risks and protective factors
youth face in the community, personally, in the
family, and at school (see Appendix B-1 for
example)
• incorporated feedback from surveys, focus groups
and consultations with young people, including
those in school, those out-of-school, and young
people from diverse backgrounds. Consultations
were also conducted with service providers,
parents and teachers.
Plan Content
5 Key Priority Areas were identified (Transport, Health and
Well Being, Educations and Employment, Making
Connections, and Communication). Each includes
• a one page discussion highlighting the key
components of the issue and how they relate
to youth concerns.
• each objective is broken down in a table
showing specific strategies, relevant existing
plans, departmental partnerships and
responsibility, and timeline.
• This emphasis on existing plans and
departmental partnerships ensures
coordination, while the timeline allows for a
clear measure of implementation.
Function
The Y Plan? is designed to provide a guide for the planning,
development and evaluation programs, activities and
facilities across all Council departments which involve or
impact young people. The plan clearly articulates Council’s
role in service and infrastructure provision, planning,
advocacy and community capacity building and will enable
Council to make informed decisions over the next three
years, as well as the actions necessary to build on this plan
and achieve continuous improvement in this area. The plan
will also serve as a basis for negotiation with other local
service providers on maximizing efforts and resources to
improve access and service coordination and with other
levels of government on funding and policy issues.
Weaknesses:
Does not include a detailed review of current services.
Core objectives and guiding principles are not clearly
articulated or defined.
 2. Actions and Strategies
a) Gather data to paint a richly detailed
picture of the current reality of Naga’s
youth populations, for a better
understanding the needs, interests and
priorities of the different sectors and
genders.
This picture would be made up of both
quantitative and qualitative data gathered and
compiled by the youth themselves, using
various participatory methods described in the
toolkit section of this report.
Quantitative Data
i) Statistics: family and housing type,
education (including school attendance rates),
economic characteristics (especially incidence
of poverty, and street youth), health
(including teen pregnancy, mental health,
social-isolation, safety, access to help,
suicide), criminal activity (including violence),
and participation rates in community and civic
organizations and programs, disaggregated by
gender
ii) Resources: need to be mapped, providing a
detailed account of who is doing what, where.
This would include an inventory of all
governmental programs at City Hall for, with,
and by youth; all NGOs run fur, with, or by
youth, as well as resources offered by the
private sector, and informal resources.
(possibly gathered through the SKs – see
toolkit for more details)
Qualitative Data
i) Community consultations with various
youth, in various places, at various times.
Adequate measures must be taken to include
in-school, out-of-school, working, and special
youth, as well as those in informal
settlements, street youth, and any other
group that might be marginalized in society.
It would also be beneficial to consult those
working with youth, including adults working
within youth organizations, teachers, and of
course parents.
All these consultations would focus on
understanding: Patterns of inclusion and
exclusion; barriers to access of services;
barriers to effective participation in
governance; patterns of expression and
communication; feelings of security; concerns
and fears of youth; hopes and desires.
The compilation of all this information can be
done by youth for youth, perhaps mobilized in
each barangay through their respective SKs.
SK members could be trained in the surveying
and leadership skills necessary to coordinate
the collection of data and facilitate youth
consultations.
b) Conduct a collective visioning process
incorporating the voices and imaginations of
all youth, articulating an ideal state for youth
in the City of Naga.
This vision could have multiple components:
• A vision for the well being of youth,
focusing on service delivery and the
elimination of problems that threaten
the welfare of young people, with
gender lenses
• A vision of youth’s participation in
governance, expressed as policy
statements regarding youth as a
resource to be called upon and
developed both as future leaders, and
as current experts in issues that affect
their lives
• A vision of youth’s development and
capacity building, reflecting youth’s
opportunities for experiential
learning, self development, and
community service
These visions should come out of consultation
and visioning workshops such as the one
described in the toolkit section.
c) Identify specific actions and strategies
that the local government can take to move
towards the vision
• Actions should be time bound and
responsible parties clearly identified.
Indicators to reflect success could also
be included
• Depending on the structures available to
implement these action plans, the
actions might focus more on
coordination mechanisms through the
coordination office, rather than
substantive program delivery
• These coordination actions might
include suggesting certain types of
programs to NGOs and higher levels of of existing organizations and programs
government, and recommendations for like the SK, the CYO, and the NCCYA
building the youth development capacity
 C. Naga City Youth Coordination Council
(NCYCC)
Recommendation 2: Develop a Naga City
Youth Coordination Council that would act
as an umbrella organization working
toward uniting all Naga City youth groups
as well as national and international youth
organizations. The council would also be
focused on working toward the inclusion of
all youth in Naga in youth development
programs and organizations, in making such
programs available and accessible to all,
and in developing a youth citizenry that is
comprised of competent, strong, socially
conscious people.
1. Great Practices: The following great
practices are relevant to Naga and should
assist in the development of a Naga Youth
Coordination Council:

Great Practice 1 Great Practice 2

Naga City Council for Youth Affairs (NCCYA) Summary: The Pacific Youth Council (PYC) was developed in 1996
Summary: Naga City has long recognized the need for the
as a way of linking all the various youth organizations in the
development of a large youth organization that would work
various islands of Oceania (totaling more than 550,000 islands) in
toward the unity, cooperation, and strengthening of all the
different youth organizations. In fact, on several occasions
the hope of creating a more collaborative and sustainable youth
different individuals and groups (like the Naga City development system. The PYC is a voluntary organization that
People’s Council , NCPC) have attempted to call for the accepts all approved youth organizations and groups in the hope of
development of such a group; however, it does not, as of creating citizens of Oceania that are united, dynamic, socially
the writing of this report, exist in any tangible form – the motivated, and proud. The PYC identifies its objectives (of the
establishment of the Naga City Council for Youth Affairs 2003-2005 term) as being:
(NCCYA) was one such attempt. The NCCYA is included
here as a great practice because the motivation, • Holistic, gender-inclusive and responsive
justification, and principles behind it (and the efforts of national youth policies developed by PICTs
the NCPC) are so solid. The ordinance calling for the • Strengthened youth organizations
establishment of the NCCYA takes into account all the • A greater number of skilled young people
different types of youth that make up the community in
• Young people better informed about regional
Naga; including those considered marginalized or excluded
trends and best practice in youth development
from other youth organizations (out-of-school youth,
working youth, and special youth). The constitution of the
(PYC 2003)
NCCYA also utilized the Naga City “Empowerment
Ordinance” to determine how it would look and how it Relevance to Naga Context: As a nation of islands, the Philippines
would function – based on the inclusion of all youth and can relate to the predicament of communication and collaboration
the exclusion of no one. The concept of such an between national and international youth organizations. With a
organization is essential, and the structure provided by the large number of youth organizations itself, Naga City has been
NCCYA and the NCPC is well-organized, the following unable to facilitate the cooperation of different youth groups on
description and the attached Appendix A-1 (only serve to different projects and on meeting Naga specific goals. Using the
emphasize the importance of such a group and to reinforce PYC as a template, Naga has the opportunity to create an umbrella
what the youth of Naga want and need. youth organization that would work to unite all youth locally,
Relevance to Naga Context: Naga would benefit from the regionally, nationally, and internationally. By observing the steps
development, implementation, and maintenance of a taken by the countries in Oceania, Naga can create a youth
Youth Council because it would increase the participation development network that offers the maximum amount of
and inclusion of all appropriate youth organizations and inclusionary techniques and community and country wide
more currently excluded or marginalized youth in Naga by participation based on over ten years of success in the South
increasing youth outreach, making programs and events
Pacific.
more accessible, and offering more creative and more
accessible options and alternatives for youth engagement.
Created in Naga by the president of the SK Federation, the
For more information please visit:
NCCYA is what is needed by Naga. As a progressive, http://www.spc.int/youth/PYC/pacific_youth_council.htm
motivated citizenry, the youth of Naga would benefit
greatly from the establishment of such an organization,
which would only function to strengthen and link the great
work that is already being done.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, the NCCYA was never enacted
and as of now remains a dormant organization The
following actions and strategies only attempt to simplify
the proposed Naga City Council for Youth Affairs (NCCYA).
The new council is proposed to be named the Naga City
Youth Coordination Council (NCYCC) as a way of starting
from the beginning with something new and as a way to
link the Council to the proposed Youth Coordination Office
(YCO)
2. Actions and Strategies
We recommend that the Naga City local
government, youth community, and youth
organizations collaboratively institute a
Youth Coordination Council (YCC). This
Council should be modeled after the Naga
City Council for Youth Affairs (NCCYA)
proposed by Allen Reondanga, and other
successful umbrella youth councils
worldwide (like the Pacific Youth Council
described above); it should also reflect the
ideologies presented in the Naga City
Empowerment Ordinance. The Council
proposed in this report (the NCYCC) would
function essentially, to achieve the
following goals and objectives (for more
information please see the attached
Appendix B-2):
The proposed Council should aim to:
• To unite the youth organizations of
Naga and to a lesser degree the youth
organizations of the Philippines and of
participating international partners.
Some possible options that could be
used to achieve such a goal are:
o The creation of a youth radio
program run by an executive
member of the NCYCC. The
program would allow youth to
text in questions to the
announcer. The primary
responsibilities of the
announcer would be to discuss
important youth issues and
disseminate information on
different youth organizational
activities and programs to
increase youth outreach
o Promoting local, regional,
national, and international
assemblies and summarizing
such assemblies and meetings
to keep youth informed, and to
share information, ideas,
concerns, and innovations
o Gathering and disseminating
appropriate youth information
to the international community
o Establishing a page on the Naga
website, the national website,
and/or an independent website
for the wider promotion of
youth organizations and
information – and to make this
information more readily
available and accessible
• To promote inclusivity within Naga city
youth organizations, and to promote
the inclusivity of Naga city youth in
such organizations regardless of said
youth’s financial status, achieved level
of education and gender. Options to
achieve this are:
o Providing membership openings
and the creation of spaces
within Naga city youth
organizations for those youth
defined as being out-of-school,
working, and disabled
o Holding information seminars in
vulnerable and/or poor and/or
remote communities (for
example, the urban poor
community of Pacol), so that
the most vulnerable and
marginalized youth of Naga are
recognized, acknowledged and
included. Furthermore, to
ensure that such youth as
described above do not have to
travel long distances and/or
pay for expensive travel costs
in order to participate in youth
organizations or youth
organizational activities. The
organizations should come to
the youth NOT the opposite
o Holding such seminars as
described above in
comfortable, culturally
sensitive and acceptable, and
appropriate locations (parks,
churches – when appropriate,
community centres)
o Holding skills workshops free of
charge (or for an optional fee)
for youth to participate in art
classes, dance classes, business
classes, creative writing
classes, sports seminars, etc.
o Holding career opportunity and
resume writing seminars in such
locations as described above,
to help and encourage youth to
promote themselves
appropriately and to the best
of their ability when searching
for employment
o Holding computer skills
workshops (typing, search
 techniques), while increasing Participatory Monitoring Framework
access to youth oriented detailed in the Tools Section of this
internet sources report)
o Holding informal interview • To foster cooperation and the building
workshops or focus groups to of sustainable linkages between all
better understand the real youth organizations (regardless of
issues of local youth political or governmental affiliations)
and the local and national governments
• To provide the public of Naga, of the Philippines. Furthermore, to
specifically members of the youth foster cooperation and the building of
community, with information on all sustainable linkages between
existing organizations and their governmental youth organizations and
respective activities, meetings, non-governmental youth organizations
assemblies, and routine updates. Some
options to achieve this are: • To strengthen all youth networks
o Radio programs through the sharing of information and
o Newsletters published by the lessons learned
NCYCC
o A Txt Naga Youth Program
o An NCYCC website
o Print media (newspapers,
magazines)
o Schools
o (see Toolkits section for
details)

• To promote idea sharing and

information sharing among all youth in
Naga, and eventually, among the youth
in the Philippines, and worldwide.
Some options to achieve this are:
o The creation of an NCYCC
website
o Regional, National, and
International youth assemblies,
congresses, and satellite
meetings

• To create greater awareness,

recognition, and appreciation of the
issues that affect Naga city youth.
Some options to achieve this are:
o Through the dissemination of
information learned from
seminars and workshops like
those described above
o Providing the information from
such seminars through the
methods described above

• To not only implement new programs,

projects, and activities but to
systematically monitor such innovations
with the aid of a participatory
monitoring framework, developed and
maintained by the Executive Council of
the NCYCC (See the example of a
 C. Recommendation 3: Naga City Youth
Coordination Office
Recommendation 3: Institutionalize a
Naga Youth Coordination Office, which
would put into practice the policies put
forth in the Youth Development Plan. The
Coordination Office would be founded on
partnerships between community
members, service providers and the
government, and would serve to coordinate
youth services in Naga and provide a
centralized access point to information
about these services for all Nagueños.
1. Great Practices:

Great Practice 1: Vancouver Youth Outreach Team

In 2002, the City of Vancouver piloted the Youth Outreach Team (YOT) in order to address the limitations of its youth development
strategy. Because Vancouver’s administration and community strongly supported youth development, the City was in a good position
to spearhead a progressive model of youth engagement to address these weaknesses. Today, the YOT model is considered a great
practice in government-centered, comprehensive youth service coordination.

The mandate of the Vancouver Youth Outreach Team (YOT) is to foster youth engagement in all aspects of civic business, to
institutionalize the commitments of the Civic Youth Strategy and to provide coordination and planning for youth issues with all major
stakeholders. The YOT is based out of the City of Vancouver Social Planning Department, but it collaborates with a large distribution
network of youth, City departments, youth service providers and civic boards (Park, Police, Library and School). The YOT is designed
as a hub model of youth service delivery as it offers youth and adults a ‘one stop shop’ for access and information about a diverse
range of programs. However, the YOT’s most innovative attributes are its all-youth staff base, its face-to-face outreach methods and
capacity-building programs.

Functions
• Provide expertise to City staff and departments about youth engagement
• Serve as a bridge between City staff, youth organizations, and networks of youth
• Act as “guides” to the system of government to other youth
• Build the capacity of staff in other Departments to work more effectively with youth

Strengths of the Model for Naga

• Founded on collaboration between youth, adults and community institutions
• Leadership and capacity-building roles for youth staff promote active forms of citizenship
• Latest research demonstrates that face-to-face outreach is most effective for engaging youth
• Provides youth with a direct link to the City; keeps City in synch with youth community
• Facilitates communication and coordination between City departments and all youth service providers
• Asset-based approach promotes positive perceptions of youth community
• Similarities between Vancouver and Naga youth development contexts (strong administrative support, limitations in relation to
youth awareness and service coordination)

Limitations of the Model for Naga

• Budget required to YOT staff positions and City adult ‘ally’
o Research shows that organizations cannot depend on youth volunteering time, skills and abilities because this leads to
burn out and high turnover, in addition to difficulty sustaining long-term, multi-state initiatives
• Space requirements
o YOT requires an accessible and culturally appropriate office space

For more information, visit the Vancouver Youth Outreach Team: http://www.vancouveryouth.ca/ and Raskin and Anderson (2006).
Great Practice 2: Abbotsford Youth Commission

The Abbotsford Youth Commission serves to “identify, promote, improve, increase and provide services and programs for young
people in the Abbotsford area” (Abbotsford Youth Commission). This non-profit organization was developed in collaboration with the
government of the City of Abbotsford. While the City of Abbotsford provides core funding, the non-profit society raises the
remainder of its operational costs through grants and fundraisers. The Commission employs three full-time adult staff.

Functions
• Advocate on behalf of youth
• Pursue active involvement in the development of other community programs and services for youth
• Serve as a resource for the community for information regarding youth services, and development
• Host a youth council

Strengths of the Model for Naga

• Represents a feasible, small-scale approach to youth program coordination
• Similar population base in Abbotsford and Naga
• Provides both coordination and program delivery, therefore fostering multiple styles of youth engagement and information
gathering
• Founded on collaboration between youth, adults and community institutions

Limitations
• Budget required for staff base and office area
• Represents a traditional model of program coordination where youth are clients as opposed to partners in service delivery

For more information, visit the Abbotsford Youth Commission:

http://www.abbyyouth.com/

2. Actions and Strategies As Naga is a smaller municipality than

The Naga City Youth Coordination Office
should be modeled according to the
successful Vancouver Youth Outreach Team
(YOT) in relation to function; it should
coordinate the distribution of different
youth services and serve as a connecting
point between service providers and the
community. This function would both
facilitate access to youth services, and
minimize overlaps and gaps in service
provision. In addition, the Office should
follow the YOT model in relation to its
youth staff-base and capacity building
function. As such, it would embody the
guiding principles in youth development, by
promoting partnerships between
community groups, between adults and
youth, and by engaging youth in active
leadership and decision-making.
Vancouver, it is not necessary for the
Office to attain the same scope in program
and project delivery as the YOT. Instead,
the Office, could serve mostly as a
coordinating body and youth information
resource to the City, much like the
Abbotsford Youth Commission. In addition
to this coordinating role, the Office should
ensure that all government plans programs
and policies are youth-friendly. This role
could include ensuring materials are
communicated in youth friendly language
and media, ensuring access to service and
providing training to other Departments for
the development of youth-friendly
programs and services.
Finally, it is recommended that the Youth
Coordination Office and its mandate be
institutionalized in the Youth Development
Plan.
D. Youth Development Framework (Plan,
Council, Office): Opportunities and
Challenges

1. Opportunities 2. Challenges
• Budget limitations
• Improve budget efficiency • Complicated
• Potential to include more youth • Long process
than before • Time consuming for core people
• Potential to attract new funding involved
sources and external knowledge • Efforts have to be made to ensure
• Naga’s ready for it. continuity
• Motivated, action oriented political • Will require a transition period, and
climate learning curve
• Supportive local government
• Provide stability by
institutionalizing the core values of
youth development.
• Provide a space for the
centralization of Naga’s youth
development.
III. Recommendations to Improve Existing the SK could fit into the Naga Youth
Programs Development Framework, their potential to
be a real force in youth development would
A. Recommendations for the be institutionalized.
Improvement of the Sangguniang
Kabataan (SK) Some recommendations for improving the
SK are to
The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) is a • Encourage the SK members to
remarkable structure that has the potential reach out beyond sports to
to reach effective youth collaborative meaningful youth development and
governance and development deep into engagement
every barangay. Unfortunately there was
little evidence of this potential being • To play a lead role in the
realized to its fullest capacity. organizing the development of the
Interviewees often responded with little Naga Youth Development
enthusiasm for the activities of the SK, Framework. This could be done by:
lamenting how the possibility for enacting • Coordinating participatory
“real youth development” was usually approaches to data collection
replaced with one-off sports and • Facilitating youth community
entertainment events. Others feared that consultations
the SK was at risk of being co-opted by • Facilitating a collective
adult barangay leaders, sometimes limiting visioning process
the SK budget to adult council approval, or
exposing the young SK councilors to unfair • SK could develop more
politicking. participatory method of
programming by
The potential to develop Naga’s SK into a • Using workshop formats and
strong and viable force for change is great. actively seeking out
With some strong guidance and support, representation from all youth
the SK could be an excellent vessel to apply types to set budget and
the three guiding principles of this report. programming priorities
By being a community based organization,
• Using tools like community
and since the SK councilors have a direct
mapping, collective visioning
mandate to their communities, it’s an
techniques, participatory
excellent arena to support healthy youth +
media production, and
community equations. It provides an great
participatory
arena to activate all 3 levels of youth
monitoring/evaluation/researc
citizenship, from activist citizens as
h (See toolkit for more info)
members of the council, participatory
citizens who volunteers in development
programs, and personally responsible
citizens who would benefit from the
increased communication of youth ideas.
Since the SK would have to work alongside
the barangay councils, and city councilors
and staff, countless opportunities to
engage youth in collaborative governance
would exist.

Naga is well situated to being the first city

to push the SK to developing its optimal
potential. Its strong pride in participatory
governance and youth empowerment are
steps in the right direction, and the
commitment of the SK president to
accountability, transparency, and youth
engagement is encouraging. If the role of
B. Recommendations for the
Improvement of the City Youth Officials
Program (CYO)
The City Youth Officials (CYO) program
represents one of the key programs for
empowering youth and incorporating their
perspectives in decision making. The
project incorporates 45 youth, mostly
university students, into the daily workings
of City Hall, shadowing the members of the
legislative and executive branches and
department heads. For 30 days, the youth
work in their respective departments,
following their counterpart around in their
day to day activities, learning how the
mechanics of local governance function.
The last 15 days are spent in the field,
working on their own projects for which
they receive a budget. While this program
represents a significant step towards
including youth in local governance and
orienting them towards an appreciation of
city management, an analysis based on the
3 guiding principles of this report uncovers
a few limitations of the program.
Supporting a Healthy Youth + Community
Equation.
While the main focus of the CYO program
seems to be more internal to City Hall,
there are some ways that the youth
interact positively with their community.
During the 15 day field work portion, the
youth plan, implement, and participate in
activities that serve the greater good of the
city at large, like cleaning up election
posters, helping younger children to read,
and supporting a blood drive. They also
prepare events for the larger youth
community, like talent competitions,
providing youth a valuable venue to share
and express their cultures. In this way, the
CYOs interact with the city as a whole,
fostering a closer relationship to the
mechanisms of local governance and to the
populations living in the city.
A deeper community connection is limited
by the fact that the youth spend most of
their time within the City Hall offices. In
addition, the assumption that these youth
represent the eyes of the youth of Naga has
the danger of hiding the complexities of
youth communities in Naga. The process of
selection for the CYO ensures that only the
youth who achieve high scores are allowed
entry, thereby limiting the variety of views,
opinions, experiences, and understandings
represented in the CYO. There are no
mechanisms to encourage the youth to
reach out to their greater youth community
when making programming decisions.
Interaction with non-CYO youth seems to
be limited to them attending or
participating in public events such as music
concerts or sports events.
A related issue is the structure of the CYO
program and how this structure could
promote social learning from one year to
the next. As it is now, there is no formal
mechanism of evaluation for the youth at
the end of their program, nor is there any
mechanism for communication from one
year to the next. This leaves the new CYOs
in a position of having to reinvent the
wheel each time. This also adds to the
insular quality of the organization since any
relationships developed with other
organizations and youth one year cannot be
maintained for the next. If there were
more continuity from one year to the next,
the linkages could be further strengthened
every year, with more added, creating a
youth development support network in
Naga city.
Fostering Multiple Styles of Youth
Citizenship.
The CYO gives a number of youth the
opportunity to experience a high level of
leadership and make a direct impact on the
functioning of the city. By creating
ordinances that are subject to council
approval, the CYO is able to leave their
mark on Naga. This level of decision
making power is impressive in a youth
oriented program.
There would be further opportunities to
develop leadership abilities and activist
citizenship if steps were taken to
encourage or mandate the youth of the
CYO to work more with the youth
community at large. It is impossible for a
unit of 45 individuals to all collectively
take on activist roles when functioning as
one decision making body. Decision making
power, and therefore true activist
citizenship is probably centralized in the
executive group. If the groups were broken
up into teams which each lead programs
with groups of local youth outside the CYO
program, the potential for more youth to
experiment with true leadership roles
would be heightened, and the input from
these kinds of activities might be used to
more accurately reflect the realities and
desires of a more diverse set of youth when
making programming decisions.
Engaging Youth Partners in Collaborative
Governance.
The CYOs take part in the daily operations
of City Hall, including city council
meetings, and as such participate in local
governance. Their shadow council and
department heads attempt to replicate
their counterparts, exploring the
mechanisms of ordinance creation and
policy debates. In this way, youth are
engaged as limited partners in governance.
The opportunity to engage youth more
deeply as real partners in collaborative
governance is hindered mostly by the
length of the program. The 30/15 day split
does not adequately allow for youth to
access deep issues that might mean the
most, nor does the structure encourage
them to do so. It is unclear of the youth
are truly consulted during their stay at City
Hall, or just allowed to watch and observe.
Having a parallel youth city council that
makes its own ordinances creates a
separation between youth governance and
real city governance, hindering a real
possibility for youth to be engaged in true
collaborative governance.
Ideas for improving the CYO program.
Recommendations regarding the structure
and administration of the program
• Rethinking the length of the
program to allow for more time for
youth to learn leadership and
community development
techniques, the mechanisms of City
Hall, and the ways to become a
stronger voice in local governance
• Rethinking the 30/15 day split. A
longer amount of field time might
allow for more meaningful
engagement with the rest of Naga’s
youth population
• A smaller base of CYO would permit
the City to divert funds to other
youth development activities
o For example, by reducing
the number of CYOs to 30
the City would create an
available budget for one
full time youth staff
working in another
function, such as a Youth
Coordination Officer
• Consider some kind of graduated
system where first year CYOs are
supported by second and third year
CYOs at some point during their
tenure in order to harness the
benefits of continuity
• If real partnerships between new
and old CYOs are impossible, there
should at least be some kind of
institutionalized communication
mechanism of relaying information
from one year to the next
• There should be some kind of
alumni association/job placement
system that acts as a way of
maintaining previous participants in
the civic fold, perhaps encouraging
further participation in other civic
events and programs and leading
more directly to real jobs for ex
CYO officials.
• More steps need to be taken to
ensure that the program has a
higher profile and is advertised to a
wider set of youth, ensuring a
divers set of youth are aware of the
program
• Steps should be institutionalized to
ensure that a diverse selection of
youth is represented in the
program, and at different levels of
the program. Diversity should
include location, socio-economic
status, educational background,
political affiliation, age, gender,
etc.
Recommendations regarding programming
and content of the CYO program
• There should be a kind of self-
monitoring and assessment activity
at the end the CYO program used
to both learn and reflect as much
as most possible from their
experience, and relay information
to the next year
• The CYO could be mandated to look
specifically at youth related
 development issues, focusing on
creating ordinances to empower
youth
• These ordinances could be the
result of community visioning
activities, community mapping, or
other participatory assessment
techniques lead for youth by
various members of the CYO
• Youth could be encouraged to work
with out of school youth,
incorporating a more diverse
perspective, fostering links among
youth, and giving voice to
marginalized youth
• Steps should be taken to ensure the
CYO’s opinions are heard in regular
council business. This would mean
briefing youth about the issues that
will be addressed and ensuring that
they have an allotted time to
express their opinions to council

IV. Recommendations for the
Establishment of New Programs
A. Youth Operated Community Garden
The Recommendation: Create a youth run
and youth maintained Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, a
vegetable community garden, in the Urban
Poor Community of Pacol.
1. Key Findings:
One of the concerns in the City of Naga
with regards to youth issues is the
proportion of out-of-school youth (those
youth aged 15 – 30 who are not attending
any educational institution and who are not
employed). According to several interviews
conducted, out-of-school youth become
out-of-school due to a number of reasons:
• Lack of parental or spiritual
guidance
• Lack of unity within the community
• Poverty (shortage of food, cost of
educationally related resources
cost of post-secondary education)
• Lack of employment opportunities,
especially for (uneducated) youth
• Having to drop out of school to help
the family earn money
• There are gender-based reasons for
drooping out school
As a result of the factors stated above, out-
of-school youth are not only segregated
from the rest of the youth in Naga by their
lack of access to education but also
because they risk becoming engaged in
socially unaccepted activities (including
alcohol, drugs and crime) and/or because
they are too busy working and helping their
parents run the household. Out-of-school
youth are thus excluded from participating
in youth organizations and the activities
run by such organizations, resulting in a
marginalization of these youth from all
areas of the community.
Great Practice 1: Wai’anae Community Supported Agriculture
In 2004, a CSA was established in Wai’anae, Hawaii. Conceived from the
knowledge that not buying produce locally results in a loss of revenue for a
community and a reduction in the ability of a community to be self-
sufficient and sustainable. The reverse, buying all (or the majority of)
produce locally, however, creates communities that are self-reliant,
efficient, and healthy. Buying locally not only supports local farmers and
local industry, but the profits generated from the sale of local produce can
be redirected to the improvement of other community services and
projects. Money from supported local agriculture can be applied to: cover
the production and maintenance costs of local farms; subsidize the costs of
crop seeds and fertilizer so that new CSA’s could be established; to sustain
low-income families; and to be filtered into supporting local concerns – like
the development of a post-secondary scholarship fund for local youth, for
example. In fact, according to a study conducted in 1994 and reported in
this case study, a 600 square foot plot of land devoted to vegetable
growing produces a profit of $450 – 600 USD every year per plot.
The CSA of Wai’anae is operated, maintained, and the vegetables
produced are sold locally by at-risk youth of the community. The project
has proved to be both economically and socially sustainable. It provides at-
risk youth with the opportunity to be involved in the community and to
feel accepted and proud. The farm itself provides the community with a
healthy, low-cost food source, while helping the youth to develop
leadership skills, agricultural skills and techniques, as well as business and
customer relations skills – an unexpected product of the farm was the
strengthening of spiritual ties between members of the community (the
adults and the youth, and between the at-risk youth and the general youth
population). Operating successfully for over three years, the Wai’anae
farm exists as one of the most relevant examples of participatory youth
engagement today.
Relevance to Naga Context: The Wai’anae community’s situation in
Hawaii is similar to that of Naga City in many ways. Both communities
suffer the problems and repercussions generated when there is a large
percentage of local youth who do not have access to viable employment
opportunities or post-secondary (or even grade school) education. In
Wai’anae, as in Naga city, teenagers are “daunted by the costs of higher
education [they] rarely proceed to college, and fail to pick up any real job
skills because they don’t see the point. Drugs normally cop up” (Mata
2004). In addition, the community members of Pacol, currently, are not
buying their groceries locally because the infrastructure for such services
does not exist, the community is located outside of Naga city (where the
services are located), and as a result, the people of Pacol are having to
spend 26 pesos round-trip and over an hours traveling time to buy food for
their families.
Wai’anae, like Naga, has a very young population – a median age of just 21
years. Similarly, both Wai’anae and Naga are suffering the consequences of
a generally young population when they should be benefiting from the
positive aspects (youth should be seen as one of the most precious and
valuable resources of a community). However, because families in both
locations cannot afford the materials to send their children to grade school
or college the strength that should be a young population is “cancelled out
by limited educational attainment … youth (too often) slide into criminal
behavior or engage in drug use, which tends to perpetuate the downward
spiral into crime … in Wai’anae, rape, theft, and crystal methamphetamine
abuse bring youth into incursions with the law” (Mata 2004: page).
Naga could benefit from the creation of a youth run and youth maintained
CSA just as Wai’anae has continued to do over the past three years.
Hopefully, with the adoption of such a program the youth of Naga could
also “learn to collaborate with each other and simultaneously enrich
community networks by fostering networks between themselves and the
community” (Mata 2004: page).

The creation of a CSA would provide all
youth in the community, particularly out-
of-school youth, with the opportunity to
participate in a socially acceptable and
beneficial activity – effectively including
them and providing them with something
profitable to do during the day (as opposed
to searching for low-level jobs or turning to
crime to earn money). At the time of this
report there were 275 out-of-school youth
in Pacol, 100 male and 175 female
(Grandview Elementary School, Pacol
Community: School Poster Board)
The inspiration for the development of a
CSA, community vegetable garden, in the
urban poor community of Pacol came from
the following ideas and case studies:
3. Actions and Strategies
Great Practice 2: SPIN Farming
Small Plot INtensive Farming (otherwise known as SPIN farming) is
a farm, producing all the same crops, at the same volume, but
done at a very small scale – resulting in the generation of organic
produce at very low costs to the operator of the farm. According
to the case study presented here, from Winnipeg, Canada, SPIN
farming “removes two of the traditional barriers – excessive start-
up costs and access to large chunks of land – that often prevent
new farmers from succeeding … An appealing aspect for struggling
farmers and ‘agri-preneaurs’ is that a SPIN farm can be a very
profitable venture without a huge up-front investment. One full-
time model touts revenues of $50, 000+ from a half acre [of land]”
(Taylor 2007). At Fort Whyte Farms in Winnipeg, at-risk youth are
being empowered and engaged in a SPIN farming project. The
youth are gaining business, agriculture, and customer relation
skills by working the farms. Run as a ten month volunteer
program, graduated youth (youth that have complete the program)
are being given the opportunity to stay on as paid interns and as
mentors to help other at-risk youth coming into the program.
Examples of SPIN Farming:

Idea: To establish a CSA or SPIN farm in the

urban poor community of Pacol and, if
successful, adapt the program for use in
other areas of Naga and the Philippines.
There should be a gender balance among
participants

The land: The land could be leased from

the church or from the Grandview
Elementary School. Currently, there is a
large unused plot of land between the
school buildings that would be ideal for a
community garden project. It would also
offer the youth the opportunity to spend
more time with other children and
teachers, and it is located near the church
and the centre of the Pacol community.
The land could also be donated from either
FROM: http://www.spinfarming.com/gallery/
of these locations. As an alternative,
solitary mini-gardens could be established Relevance to Naga Context: As start-up costs are most likely the
at the homes of each of the participating biggest obstacle preventing Naga from creating a viable CSA or
youth. community garden project, the concept of SPIN farms provides an
attractive alternative. Accomplishable with manual construction
The crops and seeds: Seeds could be tools and irrigation systems, SPIN farms would be possible in Naga,
purchased from local farmers or could be and the profits generated would be comparable to those of a
donated from agricultural companies or traditional CSA project.
farmers.
For more information on SPIN farming and on the SPIN farm in
Winnipeg operated by at-risk youth please see the following links
The knowledge and instruction: Local respectively:
farmers from the surrounding rural areas http://www.spinfarming.com
could help the youth participating in the www.mbeconetwork.org/archives/EcoJournalApr07/05spinfarm.ht
program to fertilize and work the land, to m
learn about how crops grow in the region,
how to weed, water, plant, and harvest the
fields. Furthermore, a professor from one
of the local universities could hold an
informational and planning seminar with
the participating youth on how to sell the
vegetables and what to do with the money
that is earned.
The garden: The CSA or SPIN garden would
be planted and maintained by local out-of-
school youth. The youth would be in charge
of determining what crops were planted,
how the vegetables were harvested, where
they were sold and for what price, and
what would be done with the money made
from the sale of the vegetables.
The benefit: The community garden would
be beneficial to the community in many
ways:
• The residents of Pacol would no
longer have to travel into Naga to
buy produce
• The residents of Pacol would have
daily access to nutritional locally
grown produce
• The youth would be receiving
valuable skills including:
agriculture, business, accounting,
and human resources
• The local economy of Pacol would
be supported
• The profits from the garden could
be rerouted in many different
ways:
o The youth could keep the
profits
o The youth could keep a
portion of the profits (30% -
60%) and put the remainder
in a community fund used
for community based
projects – like a community
scholarship fund
o The total of the profits
could be split into different
funds for each of the youth
personally or for the
community as a whole
4. Challenges and Opportunities
• Start up and maintenance costs.
However, the SPIN farming project
as described above provides the
community with a much lower
start-up cost than traditional
gardens and can be maintained
using manual, inexpensive tools
• Gardens take time to grow and
profits take even longer. However,
as detailed above, these projects
are profitable and they benefit
more than just the economy,
providing a place to strengthen
adult-youth relations and create
opportunities for pride in one’s
work and one’s community.
• As the lives of youth are constantly
changing, it may be difficult to
ensure that there are a sufficient
number of youth in the community
who are interested and willing to
provide the longer term
commitment required in such a
project. It may be beneficial to
hire a full-time staff member to
work the garden or to have adult
volunteers (local farmers) donate
some of their time to the upkeep of
the garden. Alternatively, youth
volunteering at the garden could
participate for three or four month
intervals to ensure continuity
within the program.
B. Youth Health Promotion
Recommendation: Create youth positions
with the Hearts and Mind program
After early infancy, adolescence is the next
period in life during which individuals
experience the greatest general health
vulnerability (Mandel & Oazilbash, 2005).
Therefore, adolescents require appropriate
delivery of health research, education, and
communication to address this risk. The
City of Naga delivers health services and
information to youth through a nation-wide
health program, Hearts and Minds. We
recommend that youth become partners in
the Naga Hearts and Minds program in
order to bring the program more in line
with youth engagement strategies, and
enhance its effectiveness.
1. Key Findings
Hearts and Minds in Naga
Hearts and Mind is a nationwide program
that provides health information,
education, and communication to young
Filipinos. The Naga City chapter of this
program is run by the City Population and

Nutrition Office staff (the City Population
and Nutrition Office focuses its services to
the rehabilitation of malnourished children
through supplemental feeding and
nutritional care and family planning
assistance among married couples). In
addition to providing marital counseling
and contraceptives to married individuals,
Hearts and Minds also holds information
seminars on sexual health and addictions
for young Nagueños in every Naga and
Metro Naga barangay.
Currently youth involvement is limited to
logistical coordination by SKs. This
Great Practice 2: Global Youth Voices - Youth-driven, community health
research and communication
This Global Youth Voices project engaged youth in leading community
health research and producing a health communication product. 20 youth
in Israel identified health issues in their communities, including smoking,
violence, friendship, suicide, and pollution, analyzed a selected health
issues, and returned to their communities with an informative multimedia
presentation: slideshow presentation, video screening, and photo exhibit
(http://www.globalyouthvoices.org/middle-east/greetings-en.html). This
model contains 6 phases:
• Engagement: Engaging youth to work on a health project in their
community
• Issue identification: identifying issues of concern to youth in
their community
• Planning: Selecting issues and developing strategy to address
these
• Act: Implementing project

coordination includes: securing venues and • Research, reflect, and reward: Evaluating and reflecting on
completed project
promoting seminars. As this program • Sustainability: Considering opportunities to continue project
targets youth, it presents an ideal
opportunity to employ youth-driven
outreach strategies, wherein youth would
play key roles in decision-making, program
planning, and seminar delivery on local
Hearts and Mind teams.

2. Great Practices:

Great Practice 1: BC HealthGuide Persian community

outreach television production
Collaborating with multiple experts and groups as
partners

The BC HealthGuide television production was produced

with three partners: members from a targeted community,
a provincial health program, and a local university. This
project illustrates how a collaborative partnership between Figure 3.0: Global Youth Voices Six Phase Model1
multiple groups can produce targeted health communication
media that is integrated into a civic program and supported
by scholarly expertise.1 For more information, visit:
http://www.globalyouthvoices.org/resources.html
This collaborative project produced four culturally-
appropriate public services announcements and a 15-minute Website contains the following resources workbooks:
documentary broadcasted on multicultural television Youth Voices: A Guide for Youth Expression and Action
stations, shown at community health workshops, and is also Youth Action Guide Community-Based Smoking Prevention
available on the British Columbia Ministry of Health’s BC Making Changes Work in Youth Centres
HealthGuide Program website
(http://www.bchealthguide.org/multicultural.stm#farsi).

Great Practice 3: Meaningful youth representation on local health advisory board

Health Advisory Board of Vancouver Coastal Health

Youth represented three of nine volunteer members on a population health committee of a regional
health board. These are the priorities for this youth engagement1:
1. Support the voices of children and youth being heard
2. Ensure that health services to our population are accessible
3. Ensure that children and youth are recognized as a priority in the regional healthcare system
3. Actions and Strategies
Youth could partner with the Hearts and
Minds program in some or all of the
following ways:
• The youth representatives could be
equal partners in research,
administration and service delivery
• The City of Naga could require the
youth representative to be enrolled
in nursing or other medical
profession training programs
• Hearts and Minds could host a
workshop for volunteer youth
representatives from each barangay
and co-develop barangay-specific
youth health workshops
• Hearts and Minds could deliver
youth-focused health information
through a multi-partner mass media
production where production teams
would be made up of youth
involved in health services and
students from Ateneo’s multimedia
program.
For example, Hearts and Minds could open
one or more youth positions. These youth
could steer the programming and take part
in decision-making as administrators, in
order for the program to better reflect the
needs of the youth population. In addition,
youth could be employed to carry out
facilitation, in order to more effectively
engage youth in the community through
peer-to-peer outreach. Finally, youth
could lead multi-partner health
communication project.
4. Benefits
• Through localized youth
engagement, Expose local health
issues that may escape
conventional medical
documentation or attention
• Engage communities to share local
medical knowledge
• Foster youth leadership, team-
working, and interview skills, as
well as project management
• Promote the use of partnerships
within the community
• Promote a holistic, community-
driven approach to health
promotion
5. Challenges
• Projects cannot rely solely on youth
volunteer time, skills and abilities,
staffing or honoraria budget is
require
• Youth may lack medical expertise
C. Creation of a Heritage Preservation
Course and Program
We recommend that Ateneo de Naga
University establish a course in the
preservation of local heritage, both built
and cultural. The course would act as a
tool for community investment as youth
would be learning to research Naga’s rich
history by interviewing elders of the
community on their lives and their spaces.
Youth would also be acquiring skills in the
areas of photography, qualitative and
quantitative research, and architectural
discourse. For the course outline and a
description of course activities please refer
to Appendix B-3.
D. Collective Remittances for Youth
Development in Naga
Recommendation
To create a system and structure to tap
into the flow of remittance money from
youth working abroad and direct a small
amount of it towards sustainable youth
community development projects, building
the capacity of youth to support each
other locally by working globally.
1. Key Findings
In 2004 alone, 933,588 Filipino overseas
foreign workers (OFWs) left the country.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas, remittances sent through formal
channels in 2004 amounted to US$8.5
billion (Asis 2006). According to a 2005
World Bank report, the Philippines is the
fifth-largest recipient of remittance flows
after India, China, Mexico, and France.
 Contrary to common belief, people who 3. Actions and Strategies
migrate have more assets that the ones left • The Youth Council can be the
behind. They are usually more educated, organization that brings together
they are the strongest and the healthiest, youth that are planning to migrate.
and they have at least enough money to • Through any of the tools
pay for their trip. The poor of the poorest recommended in this report, an
have no opportunity to migrate. organization of young Nagueños
migrants can be created. Together
For the families of migrant workers, they can build a vision of their
remittances are generally spent on fulfilling community, they can identify what
the basic needs of the family, better is missing in their barangay. They
housing, educational opportunities for can decide in which programs or
children, and starting or investing in small projects allocate the collective
businesses. However, most of the people do remittances. It is highly
not share the benefits of this constant flow recommended that the resources
of money. While remittances have buoyed are used to create human capital
the country's economy, there is a need to among the youth through
explore how migration can be an sponsoring scholarships, skill
instrument for development. development trainings, material for
productive projects, etc.
In one of the workshops held, the • The organization should be based in
participants agreed that they would have Naga, even though most of its
to migrate because there are no members will be abroad. The
opportunities for them in the Philippines. organization will be in charge of
However one of their “biggest dreams” was managing and distributing the
to come back to Naga and to live up to resources.
their responsibility of giving back what they • While the City Government should
have received. match the remittances of this fund,
finding other sources like
2. Great Practice: international organizations is
Great Practice: 3x1 program in Zacatecas, Mexico. strongly recommended ,
• It is essential to take into
3X1 program is a successful strategy undertaken by immigrants consideration self-sustainability
associations from Zacatecas (clubes zacatecanos) in partnership with (financial, technical,
the Federal and the Municipal Governments in Mexico. For years,
environmental) and the fact that
immigrants’ associations sent collective remittances as donations for
community projects. In 1993 the Federal Government began matching remittances cannot provide a
the remittance dollars allocated in this community funds. By 1999, permanent subsidy for projects;
municipal governments also began participating. From 1999 to 2003, instead, remittances should serve
projects were realized in over 35 municipios in Zacatecas. Because of as a catalyst, as seed capital,
their importance, emphasis was placed on projects for the provision of perhaps in micro credit type
potable water, construction of sewer systems, electrification, road
construction, paving, and repairs to or construction of sports fields,
schemes.
churches, parks, public plazas, and lienzos charros (rodeo rings). • The beneficiaries of the fund
should receive training if they are
This highlights three contributions of a collective remittance system: to start a productive project.
uniting the communities of origin with the communities of destination, • There should be an integrated view
converting the associations into interlocutors with the three levels of
government, and enabling the financing of community projects in
in designing and executing
regions that were previously marginalized (García Z. 2003). projects, while not forgetting that
those projects must be initiatives
Strengths of the model for Naga: of the communities themselves and
• Mexico and the Philippines are two of the countries that that their members should be
export the most immigrants per year incorporated into the project
• The economy of both countries is highly dependant in
remittances
planning, execution, and
• Naga City has a successful culture of participation and evaluation.
association • The connection between the
• The LGC allows the City to have control over the budget universities and civic organizations
• The Empowerment Ordinance mandates the City Government and the migrants’ origin and
to collaborate with NGOs and POs in training, which will be
needed to initiate and sustain productive projects.

Weaknesses of the model for Naga:

• Budget
• It will be hard to involve the national government
• It is not sustainable
 destination communities should be
strengthened.

4. Challenges
• Remittances are private resources.
The contributions should be seen as
donations that should never be
enforced.
• OFW face a lot of constraints and
difficult working and living
conditions. Their contribution to
the collective remittances must not
be one more burden for them. The
amount and frequency of their
contribution must be voluntary.
V. Toolkit Provide food at meetings,
transportation fare, and honoraria
A. Youth Engagement Tools when youth devote time and skills

This section is a collection of tools that 4. Partnerships

might be helpful to Naga on its path
towards greater youth engagement. This
section is in no way meant to be an
exhaustive list, but rather a sampling of
various methods that might spark interest
here in Naga. The sections in this part of
the report are also only meant to give a
brief introduction to these tools, but lead
to more complete references when they’re
available.
1. Youth Friendly Checklist
Youth friendly institutions are a partnerships should:
fundamental component of youth friendly
cities. Research into this topic has lead to
the creation of guidelines focusing on
accessibility, promotion of youth
engagement, partnerships, and capacity-
building. This checklist can be used to
assess an institution’s adherence to these
guidelines. This particular checklist is
meant to act as a general guide, and can
be changed to fit the particular context of
youth development in Naga.
2. Accessibility
Accessibility refers to communication and
information sharing. For an institution to
be accessibly by all youth, it should:
Present information in a youth-
friendly format, such as using youth
to present information, avoiding
jargon in presentations and written
documents, utilizing a number of
different types of media for
information dissemination, and
employing a variety of strategies
for data gathering.
Communicate information openly
Make efforts to encourage
creativity and difference
3. Promotion of Youth Engagement
Youth will be encouraged to become
engaged in an institution if they are made
to feel that they have something of value
to contribute. As such, institutions can
promote youth engagement by
compensating youth for their efforts.
Youth friendly institutions should:
Pay for youth staff
In addition to monetary compensation,
youth advocates argue that partnerships
between adults and youth help foster
engagement. The strength of these
partnerships lies in the sharing of
information as these “are based on an
understanding of the independent,
symbiotic nature of learning and teaching,
and recognizing that both youth and adults
have something different yet equally
valuable to share with each other” (youth
friendly p. 2). Institutions who fostering
Invite youth to work in an
institution
Create youth advisory councils
Develop mentorship programs
Seek out support in the adult
community in the form of
‘champions’ in different City
departments who make a case for
the benefits of youth inclusion
5. Capacity-Building
Often training in youth development is
required to develop a youth-friendly ethic
in an institution. Examples of workshop-
style activities on this topic can be found at
http://vancouveryouth.ca/civic_participati
on/tools4adults and
http://www.youthfriendly.com/english/gui
de.php.
In order to build the capacity of both adults
and youth, institutions should:
Invite youth to develop and
facilitate training workshops
modeled on those above
Possible uses for a Youth Friendly Checklist
in Naga.
• It could be incorporated
into the analysis of every
city hall department
necessary in developing a
Naga City Youth Plan
• It could be used to measure
the growth of youth
friendly policies and
institutions
• It could be used to measure
and rank institutions,
 rewarding those most
youth-friendly
B. Youth Development and Community
Building
In this section, we present some tools that
can be used to engage youth in positively
changing their communities. These tools
focus on youth as a resource for community
development whose particular experiences
can lead to a unique and insightful
perspective. The ability to perceive a
different world, live by their ideals, and
challenge the status quo, are some of the
characteristics that make youth an
invaluable force for social change.
1. Visioning Techniques
The biggest projects are born from the
biggest visions. For human beings, having
and sharing visions is critical for
development. Having a vision is having the
ability to imagine a worthy and possible
future. Visions guide further plans and
actions. A shared vision is the starting point
for any participatory development project;
it unleashes the capacity of people to make
positive change. A shared vision is a very
powerful tool that brings together the
hopes, assets, creativity, commitment, and
responsibility of the participants.
There are several visioning techniques
whose effectiveness depends in part on the
facilitator and their ability to create a safe
and reflective environment, and on the age
and circumstances of the participants.
Examples of these techniques are:
strategic vision workshop (guided
visualization), participatory theater,
drawing vision. (For an overview of
successful visioning techniques, please
refer to
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uplo
ads/doc_1910200062310_PWA4.doc)
Actions led to by the visioning workshops
arise from the assessment done by youth
and are planned, implemented and
evaluated by them. These techniques
promote positive adult/youth relationships
since most are supported by a caring adult
whose guidance is helpful for the training,
planning and implementation of significant
actions, connecting to resources, and for
conflict resolution.
Visioning techniques can be powerful tools
for engaging marginalized youth, affirming
that their needs, hopes, and positive action
is meaningful for the development of their
community. It is key to consider ways to
reach out to youth who, for whatever
reason, have less access to social programs
or youth organizations. Invite them to
participate in a visioning workshop.
These workshops usually take about 2.5
hours and should be scheduled at an
appropriate time, in order to meet the
needs of the target youth. (for an example
of a handbook please refer to
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uplo
ads/doc_18920003301_Howto.doc ) The
main features of the workshop are:
1. To stress the importance of positive
youth leadership and organization
for community development.
2. To create a common vision of what
youth want to see happening in
their lives, families, communities,
city, and country. There are
several techniques for doing this.
They might include relaxation,
music, etc
3. To facilitate a brainstorm of the
obstacles standing in the way of
that vision; as well as of the assets
and opportunities they have.
4. To facilitate a brainstorm of the
actions that could be organized in
order to challenge those obstacles,
using the assets they have.
5. To help them organize the actions
to be carried out (for an example
see Take action, information
handbook, of the British Youth
Organization. In
http://www.biglisten.co.uk/downl
oads/BYC_info_handbook.pdf),
clarifying what is going to be done,
with what purpose, what specific
strategies need to be implemented,
when, who are the possible allies,
and who is responsible for doing
what.
6. Follow up the planning,
implementation and evaluation of
the actions undertaken.
Possible uses of Visioning Techniques for
Naga
• As a key way of creating
the shared vision that will
guide the actions of the
Naga Youth Development
Framework
• As a way of reaching out to
the out of school and
working youth, ensuring
their voices are heard
within the political system
• The SK’s and CYO’s could
be trained to use these
techniques with their
constituents to make
programming decisions.
2. Community Mapping for Youth in Naga
Youth community mapping refers to a
process whereby young people map out
something of relevance to them. Maps are
physical representations of communities
and as such, reflect the perspective, point
of view, and empowerment of those who
make them. By putting the mapping
process in the hands of young people, and
letting them control this process and the
content of the maps, youth are empowered
to represent their communities from their
own perspectives. Youth maps often
highlight places where they feel safe or in
danger, have fun, learn, heal, feel in
control, or feel unheard. Maps can focus
on promoting youth culture and identity,
heritage, history, or visions of the future.
By allowing youth to map what matters to
them, planners and policy makers can gain
a deeper insight into the way young people
see, understand, and interact with their
environments and their communities.
In Vancouver, a group of Latino youth used
community mapping to address the
language barriers they perceived in the
city. Drawing on their own experiences
and the collective knowledge of their
community, they produced a detailed map
of Spanish speaking services available to
them and how they could be accessed,
identifying community gaps and strengths.
In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, youth from a poor
community participated in mapping
workshops focusing on the health,
education, employment, leisure, and
governance resources available to them
locally. These workshops promoted debate
and dialog among the participants, sharing
and validating their lived experience in the
community and created maps highlighting
the assets and gaps in the resources
available to them (to be documented in a
forthcoming publication by Gerson and
Ceasar, 2007).
Community mapping is a simple activity
that can be done with few resources – all
that is needed is paper and pens, and
perhaps some base maps containing the
street structure of the area to be mapped:
1. Youth should decide on an area
to be mapped and the themes the
maps will address
2. Next, youth indicate on base
maps the location of whatever it
is that is being mapped. This step
can happen in workshops to reach
as many youth as possible, or it
can be carried out by a team of
youth through interviews with
others.
3. All the various maps should then
be collected and analyzed. All
the info can be amalgamated to
one map, or a few separated by
theme.
Possible uses for Youth Community
Mapping in Naga City:
• SK and CYO members could be
trained in leading Community
Mapping workshops and do so in
order to determine which issues are
of most relevance to their
constituents
• SK’s could use this tool to map the
youth resources and the
organizations active in their
barangay to increase dialogue and
coordination among them
• Youth community mapping could be
used as a participative way to
collect information necessary for
creating the Municipal Youth
Development Framework
3. Communications
One of the key findings of this report is
that there is not enough information
available to the youth of Naga about
programs and services available to them, or www.takingitglobal.org
about ways they can express their voice “TakingITGlobal.org is an online
and give their input in governance issues. community that connects youth to find
This section contains a number of ideas inspiration, access information, get
that not only disseminate information to involved, and take action in their local and
youth, but that encourage youth expression global communities. It's the world's most
the sharing of ideas among youth and popular online community for young people
between youth and the government. interested in making a difference, with
hundreds of thousands of unique visitors
each month.” This international site
4. E-Governance for Youth in Naga contains detailed youth-friendly
information about development issues,
The internet is a tool that has the potential active debates moderated through
to reach out to youth in new and exciting discussion sites, and lots of youth written
ways, engaging them in a highly interactive information promoting youth journalism
way both locally, nationally, and globally. and expression.
Naga City is already a leader in e-
governance, as recognized by UNDP. This Possible ways for Naga to use e-governance
concept should be extended to focus on for youth:
engaging youth and giving them a place to The site could be part of the city website,
express their comments, concerns, ideas, or stand alone. It should be primarily in
and culture. Bicolano to ensure access for as many as
possible.
*An important limitation inherent in using
the internet for community development is This site could potentially serve the youth
a lack of access for many youth, especially communities of Naga in 4 major ways:
those marginalized by poverty. For this 1) With information about local
reason, any e-governance strategy directed governance and city hall:
at youth should be accompanied by plans to • Information about
improve access to the internet for all programs, and news from
youth. This might include working with city hall that relates to
private sponsors to set up free youth youth
oriented internet access points in the • Information about the
poorest neighborhoods. structure of city hall and
the ways that youth can
www.redejovem.org.br access key decision making
Rede Jovem is a Brazilian website that acts processes, making their
as an e-centre for youth ideas and voices heard
development in the country. It’s mission is 2) Information about youth resources,
to, “To engage young people from all over including:
the country in a healthy environment of • What’s available for youth,
networking to exchange and produce where it is, how to access
collective solutions for their common it
problems.” This is done by providing free • links to other relevant
blog space for youth to express their ideas, youth organizations and
concerns, post their art, rant, and share city departments
their experiences. It also includes youth • perhaps an online version
produced news and articles, online courses of a youth community map
in internet and other skills, chat rooms, (See Youth Community
classifieds where youth can sell things they Mapping in the Toolkit
make and promote their art and music, and section).
more. The organization also promotes free 3) Promotion of Youth Development
internet access sites for those who don’t • Information on
have access otherwise. development programs and
events for youth
 • Issue based discussion
boards
• Youth written articles
regarding development and
issues related to youth.
4) Promotion of Youth Culture
• Music – local bands, concert
promos, music clips, etc…
• Art – photo and drawing
galleries
• Video and other media
• Discussion boards for each
of the above, promoting a
local arts community
4. Media Technology
Another opportunity to give youth voice
and representation is through digital and
broadcast media. The United Nation’s
discussion paper entitled The Youth-
Friendly City recommends that
organizations and governments “develop
positive media images of youth and support
integrated media promoting child and
youth friendly cities” (Regan & McNulty
2006). Some youth media advocate have
even argued that it should become “a pillar
– not just a component – of 21st century
civic curriculum” (Rheingold 2006).
In the Philippines, most youth already have
access to some form of media such as
newsletters, newspapers, magazines,
televisions, and radio (Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2000:
117). While access to media is valuable to
developing perspectives on the world, it
does not necessarily develop youth as an
active and empowered citizenry. Young
Nagueños need to be more than just media
consumers but active producers of
programs. As media consumers and
producers, youth can bring a youth-friendly
perspective to challenge current images in
the public sphere and to create media
relevant to their experiences.
Currently, several youth-led radio and
television programs exist in the Philippines.
These include the News Watch Junior
Edition, Sine Eskuwela and Batibot (ibid
117). Here are a few examples of good
practices around the world.
a. Access to Media Education
Society (AMES)
http://www.accesstomedia.org/
AMES is a community-driven, grassroots
organization that promotes media literacy
and self-advocacy through media. AMES
targets “multi-barriered” and empowers
their voices through mentorship and
production of youth-driven short films,
video, and public service announcements.
Some of these video have been integrated
into its province’s public school curriculum,
and shown on television and film festivals.
Some issues they tackle are anti-racism,
anti-homophobia and Aboriginal culture,
and other experiences of social exclusion
and social injustice.
b. Community Radio: Youth
Voice FM
http://www.youthvoice.org.uk
Youth Voice FM is a community radio
station for young people to broadcast in
North Tyneside, United Kingdom. It
provides a youth-friendly space for voice
and representation of youth and youth
issues. In addition to being a venue to
promote local youth talent and art, it
cultivates a sense of community. One
weakness of this project is its limited
airtime (one month per year). For effective
youth engagement, youth-led programming
must be regular and continuous.
While youth media programs are diverse,
they share many common factors. Most
develop a time-intensive training
workshops followed a period of supportive
mentorship giving youth more than just
technical skills in media production. This
training curriculum should include seminars
on social justice issues, creative
expression, community and participatory
research skills, while providing a safe
environment to discuss issues of media
representation, particularly with
marginalized groups. During the
mentorship phase, the youth lead
programming and content; while mentors,
sponsors, and funders take a backseat.
Many of the programs attempt to connect
youth to professional network that may
transform into job opportunities. They
encourage a one-year commitment and
develop youth as peer-mentors to ensure a
continuation of youth-led programs
Possible uses of Media for Naga
• Partnerships could be sought
with other organizations to
develop participatory
programming
• Partnerships could be
developed with the local media
outlets to encourage more
youth input and programming
• Encourage the Ateneo
Animation students to partner
with other youth in exploring
animation as a tool for youth
development
• Encourage the development
and support of youth
community radio stations
• Connect to the Naga youth
website to display youth made
videos, photos, music and any
other form of expression
• SKs could use tools like
participatory media production
to explore youth issues in their
barangay
C. Data Gathering and Record Keeping
1. Youth Participatory Research and
Evaluation
The positive youth development movement
has influenced scholars and practitioners to
include youth as partners in the design and
implementation of research involving issues
that affect their lives. Engaging oppressed
or marginalized youth in research and
evaluation not only generates useful
knowledge for communities and individuals
but also provides opportunities for the
development and empowerment of youth
participants, leading to benefits for young
people, organizations, the broader
community, and the research process.
(Kroeker 1996: 3)
The entire enterprise engages young people
in critically thinking about and researching
important social issues. This enables them
to exercise their political rights, prepares
them for active participation in a
democratic society, and empowers them to
create social change. (Hart 1992: 22–24)
Engaging youth in participatory research
and evaluation enhances the possibility
that findings will be useful, owned and
acted upon by those involved in producing
them. Involving youth in the formulation of
the research questions, in the strategies to
answer them, and in the data
interpretation, improves the accuracy of
the results.
“Youth and Adult Leaders for Program
Excellence: A Practical Guide for Program
Assessment and Action Planning”: is a
comprehensive resource kit, based on
youth development research and practice,
designed for groups that are seeking to
promote positive youth development
through strategies of youth participation,
youth activism, youth voice and youth-
adult partnership. The kit is most
appropriate for programs that are actively
seeking to improve their services, and
which perceive youth as being key
actors/partners in that process. This
resource kit guides staff and youth through
five phases of assessment and program
improvement: planning and preparing to
conduct a program assessment, collecting
and compiling data, analyzing and
understanding the data, sharing results
with the group, action planning and
finalizing the report.
It also includes 3 research and practice-
based assessment tools.
• Youth engagement tool: for
assessing the degree which youth
have legitimate chances to be
heard, respected and taken
seriously during program design and
implementation.
• “Organizational-Youth Engagement
Tool,” for assessing the extent to
which youth are involved in
decision-making forums and the
degree to which the organization
creates structures to support youth
engagement over the long term.
• “Program and Activity Assessment
Tool”, for assessing the
developmental opportunities and
supports provided to youth in the
program. Opportunities include the
chance to explore new things, be
creative, gain membership in a
group, and contribute to others.
 Supports include nurturance,
emotional safety, high
expectations, standards and
boundaries, and strategic support
through transitions.
Whatever technique is used to engage
youth in participatory research and
evaluation, we recommend the use of the
table and a consideration of the key
concepts in Appendix A-2
Possible uses for Participatory Research
and Evaluation in Naga
• This tool could be used and
promoted by the youth council and
the coordination office to develop
research projects among
organizations (including local
universities) and excluded youth
• SKs and CYO can act as links for
researchers and the youth
communities in their barangay
• These tools can be used to collect
the research necessary for creating
the Naga Youth Development
Framework.
2. Participatory Monitoring Framework
A participatory monitoring framework is a
set of guidelines and exercises that help
youth and the adults working with and for
them to monitor the progression or
digression of various programs and issues
facing youth today. The framework
outlined below was taken from a UNICEF
report presented in 2005. The motivation
behind such a framework is the ever
changing lives of youth and the general lack
of monitoring that occurs after a program
or project is implemented.
(like the one described in Appendix A-1)
creates a benchmark against which all
future youth programs and issues in Naga
can be assessed fairly and accurately.
In order to capture the change, if any, in
the lives of youth, it is important to have
periodic rounds of monitoring where the
participatory monitoring framework will
relate to a specific period, reflecting the
periodic change for better or worse. Only
then will the participatory monitoring
framework be useful
*See Appendix A-1 for examples and
templates
Possible uses for a participatory monitoring
framework in Naga:
• SKs can be trained to hold
workshops with youth in each
barangay to monitor the state of
the youth in their constituencies
and then use this information to
direct programming decision
• The entire process could be
overseen by the Coordination
council and office.
• The tool could be utilized within
organizations and schools for self-
monitoring (promoted through the
Youth Coordination Office)

The framework is applicable to Naga

because currently, there seem to be no
established mechanisms to monitor how
and if programs are working, and more
importantly how youth are being impacted
from the implementation of such programs.
The framework provides a solid base for
evaluation and assessment (done by the
youth themselves) and a record for
comparison, ensuring that the feelings and
issues of youth are recorded and addressed.
Finally, the standardization of a template
VI. Conclusion
Over the course of time that the UBC team
has spent in Naga, it has become clear that
this city’s commitment to meaningfully
engaging youth is sincere and genuine,
placing it in a prime position for becoming
a true leader in local youth collaborative
governance. Most of the elements
necessary for this achievement are already
alive and well in this city. A myriad of
programs designed to serve, teach, and
engage youth exist in various City
departments, NGOs, educational
institutions, and higher levels of
government. Youth participation is
mandated as a fundamental component of
barangay politics through the SK, and
incorporates annual and quarterly
gatherings of all youth to participate in
budget allocations and decision making.
The collaborative approach to governance
fostered in this city has led to a culture
supportive of youth, recognizing that if the
gains and progress made here in the last 18
years is to be continued into the future, it
will be up to the younger generation to
carry on what the last so enthusiastically
championed.
We also suggest that more connection and
collaboration occur on multiple levels of
government. On the national level, for
example, the National Youth Commission
has produced a handbook entitled,
Philippine Toolkit for Youth Development
([no date]) and the National Assessment:
Youth Attributes, Participation, and
Service-Providers (2004) that could
potential inform local Naga youth
organizations with alternative ideas.
This pro youth attitude places Naga in an
excellent position to begin pushing its
experiences and experiments with youth
development in new and exciting
directions. The challenges presented in
this document are not simple, small ways
to improve what exists, but rather a new
way of approaching youth development
altogether. The ideas suggested here
involve taking a large step towards ensuring
that Naga is able to harness all the
collective resources for youth development
in this city and use them in the most
effective and efficient way possible.
Institutionalizing this level of coordination
will mean ensuring that this commitment to
youth development carries forward into the
future, beyond this generation, supporting
healthy youth and healthy communities for
generations to come. While many obstacles
might stand in the way of completing this
task, the youth of Naga are some of the
brightest and most resourceful in the
world. Collectively they can overcome
obstacles, bringing them closer together,
making Naga an example of collaborative
youth governance known across the world.
The challenges are many, but if any city
can take them on, Naga can.
 APPENDIX SECTION A:
TOOLS
A-1: Participatory Monitoring Framework
A-2: Youth Engagement Assessment Chart
 Appendix A-1
The Participatory Monitoring Framework Template:

Taken From: Mukherjee, N. (2005). Towards Evolving a Rights-Based Participatory Monitoring

Tool for
Sustainable Human Development and Reduction of Vulnerability of STREET CHILDREN
in Urban South Asia. UNICEF – New School Conference, New York.

STEP 1: Perspectives of Youth

To begin with, youth should participate in a free-flow discussion and analysis of the issues
facing youth in general and youth in their community, the questions posed can be as simple as
“What kinds of problems do you think young people have here?”, but can become more
collaborative or imaginative based on the people participating.

Some Examples from Mukherjee, 2005:

• no place of residence
• forced to sleep in the open
• uncertainties in accessing daily food
• weak health due to work
• no access to health services
• low income

A discussion (like above) of the problems and issues facing youth can also be conducted as
outlined below:

Box 1 - Prioritized Problem Ranking (by one group of youth)

Examples:
(i) Problem in accessing school
(ii) Suffer health problems due to hard work
(iii)Low wages and long hours of work
(iv)Difficulties in accessing basic amenities
(v) Etc.

Box 2 – Prioritized Problem Ranking (by another group of youth – perhaps more
marginalized than the first)
Examples:
(i) Difficulties of shelter, basic "security" and amenities
(ii) Difficulties in accessing food
(iii) Attitude and behaviour of people who call by names and misbehave
(iv) Lack of affection
(v) Difficulties in accessing clothes, keeping cash, attending school
(vi) Etc.

STEP 2: Evolving Criteria from the Perspectives of Marginalized Youth

Below, in Table 1, spaces for youth to describe their perspectives, their issues, and the coping
strategies they use or think they can use to deal with such issues have been provided as in
column 2, column 3 and column 4, respectively. The table below is meant to map out the
mechanisms for coping that youth have been resorting to, and possible ways these can be
restructured into a healthier approach to dealing with problems and concerns. As Mukherjee
discovered during research, “some of the issues listed by the youth are iterative though they
can be easily termed as being repetitive in our view. The point is that they are perceived as
different aspects of similar or dis-similar problems by the youth and hence two different
 negative criteria could have similar issues though their implications need not be the same”
(2005). See Table 1 below:

Table 1: Drawing Generic Criteria from the Issues Raised by Youth

(Column 1) (Column 2) (Column 3) (Column 4)

Generic Criteria on Issues Raised by Coping Strategies Adopted Towards Generic Indicators
Disempowerment, Youth by Youth for Participatory Monitoring
Denial of Rights and
Capabilities
Lack of access to No place of * Sleep on the street, * Have access to a proper
basic amenities residence, lack of wherever space is available shelter
shelter, forced to * Often lose cash, clothes, * Have a safe place to keep
sleep in the open, no sandals and other items cash and other items such as
safe place to keep clothing and sandal,as
cash, no required.
opportunities for
education

Continued … Until Continued … Continued … Continued …

all issues raised by
the youth are
addressed in chart
form

STEP 3: List Generation

The next step is to develop with the youth a negative list of 10 generic criteria :
1. Disempowerment and Powerlessness
2. Discrimination
3. Lack of access to basic amenities
4. Continued to 10

and

Develop with the youth a positive list of 10 generic criteria and sub-criteria:
1. Empowerment and ‘Power With’ and ‘Power Within’
2. Positive Discrimination
3. Right to Shelter and Safety and Practical Access
4. Emotional Well Being, Social Inclusion
5. Continued to 10

STEP 4: Towards a Rights –Based Participatory Monitoring Framework for Youth (in-school,
working youth, out-of-school youth, etc.)
The negative list of 10 generic criteria as in Table 1 have been transformed to a positive list of
10 generic criteria for constructing the rights –based participatory monitoring tool as shown in
Table 2. Table 2 provides a set of generic criteria and sub-criteria for participatory monitoring
of situation by youth. This tool can be adapted across countries and locations after testing and
validation by the primary stakeholders. See Table 2 below:
 Table 2: Participatory Monitoring by Youth:
Generic Criteria and Sub-Criteria with Scores

Generic Criteria Sub-Criteria for Score: Score: Score; Score: Score: Score: Score
Participatory 1=Negligibl 2=Low 3=Mediu 4=High 5=Very 6=Excellen on
Monitoring e m High t Sub-
Criteri
a
I. Positive I.1 Confidence to
Discrimination talk with elders/
strangers and
tackle unjust
acts/demands
I.2 Can challenge
strangers and
demand better
behaviour
I.3

Continued until
all negatives are
met with
positive
solutions –
created by and
for the youth
participants

Note 1: Qualitative Scoring: 1=Negligible; 2=Low; 3=Medium; 4=High; 5=Very High;

6=Excellent.

Note 2: Range of Total Score: There are 10 generic criteria, which have 40 sub-criteria for
qualitative scoring. Each sub -criterion has the highest score of 6, so 40 sub-criteria have total
highest score of 240. Any individual/group of youth, which scores “excellent” on all criteria has
a total score of 240 (6 multiplied by 40) while that, which scores “negligible” on all criteria has
a total score of 40 (1 multiplied by 40). Scoring on participatory monitoring or participatory
situational analysis of street children would have a range of 40 to 240.
 Appendix A-2
Youth Engagement Assessment Chart
Appendix A-2: Assessing the level of youth engagement in participatory research
Question Yes No
Did the recruiting methods contemplate giving access to
marginalized and excluded youth?
Is there a partnership among youth and adults in the research
team?

Is there any incentive for their participation?

Did they develop initial aims?

Did they decide research topics?

Did they develop research procedures?

Did they develop instruments?

Did they complete training on rights and responsibility of

involving human subjects in research?
Did they complete other training in conducting research?

Did they recruit peers to participate?

Did they recruit adults to participate?

Did they survey peers?

Did they survey adults?

Did they debrief about research process and progress?

Did they enter data?

Did they analyze data?

Did they interpret data?

Did they present findings?

Did they write publications?

Did they meet with other youth researchers to share findings

and experiences?
Was there an increased participation by hard-to-reach
population?

Is there more complete data?

Did youth develop new skills?

Is there more community recognition of youth?

Key principles
• Holding research roles offer young people optimal conditions for development. They
develop various skills including how to design and plan a project, to develop
instruments, to use different methodologies and procedures, to work with data, and to
interpret findings; they may gain public speaking skills and learned how to give
presentations to diverse audiences, as well as advocate for issues of importance to
them and their peers. They might have opportunities to interact with and build
relationships with people of different ages, backgrounds, and social networks.
• All researchers need time to learn, practice, and improve their craft.
• The timeframe needs to be realistic—long enough for the development, testing, and
revision of new skills, but not so long that young people are unable to see it through to
completion because of their own developmental changes.
• The work of youth researchers needs to be supported with appropriate human,
financial, and logistical resources.
• Young people need to be engaged in and informed about the rights and responsibilities
involved in “human subjects” research.
• Youth voice need to be taken seriously by listening to and acting upon youth
recommendations. At the same time, youth recommendations should not be endorsed
uncritically.
Multiple modes of participation are important. It is important to provide incentives or pathways
to “ramping up” participation and assuming increasingly complex responsibilities, as well as
ways for youth to reduce their involvement, while maintaining significant relationships with the
project, as their developmental needs change.
 APPENDIX B:
PROGRAMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
B-1: Whitehorse Youth Development Plan Risk and Protective Factors Chart
B-2: Naga City Youth Coordination Council Framework
B-3: Heritage Course Curriculum Outline
 Appendix B-1
Whitehorse Youth Development Plan Risk and Protective Factors Chart
 Appendix B-2
Proposed Naga City Youth Coordination Council (NCYCC) Framework

The Name: The name of the Youth Council can be determined by the incoming members of the
Council itself. It will be called the Naga City Youth Coordination Council (NCYCC) throughout
this Appendix only to simplify the following recommendations and constitution. This name is
only temporary and is subject to change at the will of the founding members

The Mission: The mission of the heretofore named NCYCC could be:

To unite the youth of Naga city (and subsequently the youth of the Philippines and the
international youth community at large) in the development of an equal, just,
accessible, and sustainable youth development system

NOTE: As suggested by Willy Prilles during the seminar presentation of this report, the SK could
act as the organization that would effectively become the new NCYCC. This would be effective
due to the fact that the SK is made up of motivated and able-bodied youth, especially those
operating within Naga City. This suggestion could also be an effective solution to the concern
that the SK will be abolished in the near future – transferring the SK members to the new
Coordination Council would make the most use of their skills and energies.

The Aims: The aims of the NCYCC could be the following:

1. To unite the youth organizations of Naga and to a lesser degree the youth organizations
of the Philippines and of participating international partners
2. To promote inclusivity within Naga city youth organizations, and to promote the
inclusivity of Naga city youth in such organizations regardless of their financial status
or achieved level of education
3. To provide the public of Naga, specifically members of the youth community, with
information on all existing organizations and their respective activities, meetings,
assemblies, and routine updates
4. To promote idea sharing and information sharing among all youth in Naga, and
eventually, among the youth in the Philippines, and worldwide
5. To create greater awareness, recognition, and appreciation of the issues that affect
Naga city youth
6. To foster unity among the youth community of the Philippines
7. To not only implement new programs, projects, and activities but to systematically
monitor such innovations with the aid of a participatory monitory framework,
developed and maintained by the Executive Council of the NCYCC
8. To foster cooperation and the building of sustainable linkages between all youth
organizations (regardless of political or governmental affiliations) and the local and
national governments of the Philippines. Furthermore, to foster cooperation and the
building of sustainable linkages between governmental youth organizations and non-
governmental youth organizations
9. To strengthen all youth networks through the sharing of information and lessons
learned

The Objectives: In order to achieve the aims stated above, the NCYCC’s principle tasks are as
follows:
1. To unite the youth organizations of Naga and to a lesser degree the youth organizations
of the Philippines and of participating international partners BY:
a. The creation of a youth radio program run by an executive member of the
NCYCC. The program would allow youth to text in questions to the announcer.
The primary responsibilities of the announcer would be to discuss important
youth issues and disseminate information on different youth organizational
activities and programs to increase youth outreach
 b. Promoting local, regional, national, and international assemblies and
summarizing such assemblies and meetings to keep youth informed, and to
share information, ideas, concerns, and innovations
c. Gathering and disseminating appropriate youth information to the international
community
d. Establishing a page on the Naga website, the national website, and/or an
independent website for the wider promotion of youth organizations and
information – and to make this information more readily available and
accessible
2. To promote inclusivity within Naga city youth organizations, and to promote the
inclusivity of Naga city youth in such organizations regardless of said youth’s financial
status or achieved level of education BY:
a. Providing membership openings and the creation of spaces within Naga city
youth organizations for those youth defined as being out-of-school, working,
and disabled
b. Holding information seminars in vulnerable and/or poor and/or remote
communities (for example, the urban poor community of Pacol), so that the
most vulnerable and marginalized youth of Naga are recognized, acknowledged
and included. Furthermore, to ensure that such youth as described above do
not have to travel long distances and/or pay for expensive travel costs in order
to participate in youth organizations or youth organizational activities. The
organizations should come to the youth NOT the opposite
c. Holding such seminars as described above in comfortable, culturally sensitive
and acceptable, and appropriate locations (parks, churches – when
appropriate, community centres)
d. Holding skills workshops free of charge (or for an optional fee) for youth to
participate in art classes, dance classes, business classes, creative writing
classes, sports seminars, etc.
e. Holding career opportunity and resume writing seminars in such locations as
described above, to help and encourage youth to promote themselves
appropriately and to the best of their ability when searching for employment
f. Holding computer skills workshops (typing, search techniques), while increasing
access to youth oriented internet sources
g. Holding informal interview workshops or focus groups to better understand the
real issues of local youth

3. To provide the public of Naga, specifically members of the youth community, with
information on all existing organizations and their respective activities, meetings,
assemblies, and routine updates THROUGH THE USE OF:
a. Radio programs
b. Newsletters published by the NCYCC
c. A Txt Naga Youth Program
d. An NCYCC website
e. Print media (newspapers, magazines)
f. Schools

4. To promote idea sharing and information sharing among all youth in Naga, and
eventually, among the youth in the Philippines, and worldwideTHROUGH THE USE OF:
a. An NCYCC website
b. Regional, National, and International youth assemblies, congresses, and
satellite meetings

5. To create greater awareness, recognition, and appreciation of the issues that affect
Naga city youth BY:
a. Disseminating the information learned from seminars and workshops like those
described above in step 2
 b. Providing the information from such seminars through the methods described in
steps 3 and 4

6. To foster unity among the youth community of the Philippines BY:

SEE METHODS AND IDEAS ABOVE

7. To not only implement new programs, projects, and activities but to systematically
monitor such innovations with the aid of a participatory monitoring framework,
developed and maintained by the Executive Council of the NCYCC SUCH A FRAMEWORK
IS AVAILABLE IN THE GOOD PRACTICES SECTION OF THIS REPORT

8. To foster cooperation and the building of sustainable linkages between all youth
organizations (regardless of political or governmental affiliations) and the local and
national governments of the Philippines. Furthermore, to foster cooperation and the
building of sustainable linkages between governmental youth organizations and non-
governmental youth organizations

9. To strengthen all youth networks through the sharing of information and lessons
learned

The Membership Requirements:

The membership requirements to become a member of the NCYCC could be as follows:
The Naga City Empowerment Ordinance should be consulted before any such requirements are
adopted.

1) Eligibility:
a. Youth organizations (defined as those organizations comprised of members
aged 15-30)
b. Alternatively, individuals or small groups of youth who are yet to be
affiliated with any specific organization but require placement could
become members
c. Any grouping of youth regardless of how formal or informal should have the
opportunity to become members of the NCYCC
d. All organizations must agree to the above stated Aims and Objectives

2) Admission:
a. To be determined by the incoming Council members. However, the
admission fees should only be collected from organizations with the budget
to support such charges. All members should have equal opportunity to
benefit from the funds and ideas of the NCYCC

3) Cessation: Organizations will cease to be members of the NCYCC if they:

a. Fail to abide by the above stated Aims and Objectives
b. Cause any harm, or discriminate in any way, against any other NCYCC
individual member or member group

4) Other:
a. National organizations can be admitted if they comply with the above
requirements
b. International organizations can be admitted if they comply with the above
requirements

The General Assembly of the NCYCC:

• Based on participatory councils worldwide, the general assembly of the NCYCC should
be the ultimate democratic decision making body of the NCYCC, the general assembly
is comprised of a self-determined number of each of the admitted youth organizations –
 the executive committee of each respective organization (president, vice-president,
treasurer, secretary) may not be members of the general assembly. The general
assembly of the NCYCC is empowered to (taken from Chapter 5: General Assembly of
the Pacific Youth Council [PYC]):
a. Determine and approve the policy and work programs of the NCYCC
b. Decide on the budget of the NCYCC
c. Receive reports from the Executive Council on policy, programs and finance
d. Conduct the election of the Executive Council and Office Bearers by Secret
Ballot
e. Appoint a qualified Auditor recommended by the Executive Council
f. Review and amend the Constitution as required

• The Council should determine how often elections are held and how long individuals
remain in their positions. This will most likely be based on the time frame of each of
Naga’s current programs (including the CYO – a forty-five day program, and the SK)
• The General Assembly should have fair representation of age, gender, employment
status, and Barangay of Naga city
• The meetings and assemblies of the General Assembly should be conducted in a
language that is comfortable for every member of the Council. If Bicolano is preferable
to most but not to all, English or Tagalog will be offered as a translated alternative.
• The meetings should also be conducted in a location that is comfortable and accessible
to the majority of the attendees. If members are unable to attend, alternative
arrangements for them to hear what was said and have their voices heard (either via
text messaging, call-in, emails, word of mouth, or other). Web or radio feeds should
also report on decisions made to keep the general public and youth informed.

The Executive Council of the NCYCC:

• The Executive Council of the NCYCC should be comprised of a self-determined number
of youth between the ages of 15 and 30 years. The General Assembly should elect the
Executive Council
• The Executive Council, just as the general assembly, should have fair representation of
gender, age, employment status, and Barangay of Naga city
• The Executive Council should meet together at self-determined intervals to discuss
youth issues, to evaluate the current state of the program, to monitor the progress of
various youth programs and projects, to discuss certain concerns and/or problems, and
to answer questions and make decisions pertaining to the NCYCC and the Youth
Coordination Office of Naga city
• The meetings of the Executive Council should be conducted in a language that is
comfortable for all members. If Bicolano is preferable to most but not all, Tagalog or
English will be offered as a translated alternative.
• The Executive Council is empowered to do the following:
o To be determined by incoming members

The Funds:
The NCYCC should receive its funds from the following sources:
• The membership fees from the member organizations
• Contributions from approved organizations and/or individual persons
• The Youth Coordination Office of Naga City
• Other approved sources
The Treasurer should be responsible for recording and organization the financial records of the
NCYCC
 Appendix B-3
Heritage Conservation Course Outline

Name: Cultural Resource Management in Naga City, Philippines

Descriptive Title: Heritage Inventories – Evaluation

Description:
This course explores the preservation of historic resources (cultural, natural, and built) existing
in Naga City, the Philippine. The course also examines the development and use of inventory
forms, techniques, and equipment used in the recording of and preservation of
heritage/historic resources worldwide; it also uses information and evaluation techniques to
understand and appreciate the value of traditional forms of buildings, spaces, and cultural
resources in Naga City. It includes information on the development of a Philippines specific
inventory form, field survey, photographic style (based on that used in Canada), database, and
information management system. Finally, the course involve site visits to historic places in
Naga and in other parts of the Philippines (where and when applicable), along with the
assessment of local styles and the preparation of reports.

Credit Value: 3

Textbook(s):
1) Tyler, Norman. (2000). Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History,
Principles, and Practice. New York: Norton & Company Ltd.
2) Burden, Earnest E. (2004). Illustrated Dictionary of Architectural Preservation.
Michigan: McGraw-Hill
3) Stipe, Robert, E. (2003). A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-
First Century. Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina Inc.

Course Aim: To develop skills in preparing and conducting heritage resource inventories in a
Philippines context

Course Objectives (Knowledge):

1. Architectural History of the Philippines
a. Pre-colonial
b. Post-colonial
c. Modern
2. Definition of Heritage Resource
a. Built
b. Cultural
c. Natural
3. Definition of a Heritage Inventory
a. What is a heritage inventory?
b. Why are the heritage criteria important?
c. What resources are most beneficial to use when conducting a heritage
inventory?
d. What tools are essential when conducting an inventory?
4. Good Practices
a. Canada’s Statement of Significance (SOS) system
b. Calgary’s value/merit based significance criteria
5. Examination of the Canadian Heritage Inventory System
a. National
b. Canadian inventory of historic buildings
c. US-HABS
d. Urban resources vs. rural resources
e. City of Vancouver historic building survey
 f. City of Ottawa survey
6. Recognized Heritage Resources in the Philippines and Asia
a. Locally recognized
b. Regionally recognized
c. Nationally recognized
d. World Heritage Sites
e. Difference between designated, acknowledged, preserved, restored, and
renovated
7. The Fundamentals of the Heritage Inventory
a. Identification of resources
b. Name of the resource
c. Date of Construction
d. Address
e. Use (single-family residential, apartment, hospital, bank)
f. Ownership (current)
g. Discussion of where to find the above information in Naga
8. Description of how significance is determined for the purposes of the inventory
a. Importance
b. Official designation date
c. Date history
d. Historical comments
e. Authorship
f. Description of the resource
g. Area and setting (where it is located, significance of place?)
h. Site and structure (has the resource been moved?)
i. Magnitude (is the resource considered a landmark)
9. Identify the general characteristics of describing a cultural resource
a. Style (craftsman bungalow, Gothic, Edwardian)
b. Material and technique (stone, brick, nailed frame)
c. Construction elements
d. Immovable elements
e. Movable features
10. Identify conservation/restoration requirements
a. Preservation
b. Conservation
c. Protection
11. Description of and explanation of how to find and use the sources of documentary
evidence
a. Files and reprints
b. Maps
c. Plans and drawings
d. Photographs
12. Describe the steps in developing a local (Naga City) inventory
a. Develop objectives
b. Develop inventory forms
c. Test the forms
d. Revise the inventory forms
e. Conduct a sample inventory
f. Tabulate the results
13. Use of technology
a. Digital camera instruction
b. Video camera instruction
14. Describe the various systems of evaluation heritage buildings
a. Review of the Parks Canada System
b. The UNESCO system
c. The Heritage Foundation system
 15. Describe the basic approaches to developing a system of evaluation
a. Value/Merit based systems (qualitative)
b. Number and letter based systems (quantitative)
c. Application of evaluation techniques
d. Review of who should evaluate the application system
e. Decision on what system to use in Naga
f. Creation of a Naga City designation process
16. Identification of the major historical influences on architecture in the world
a. Classical Greek and Roman
b. Renaissance architecture
c. Neo-classical architecture
d. Gothic architecture
e. Chinese architecture
f. Spanish colonial architecture
g. Philippine architecture
17. Identification of sources of architectural history
a. Architectural dictionaries (see required reading)
b. Special libraries
c. Archives
d. Individuals living in the community (elders, architects, planners, developers)
18. Identification of the various methods of study for inventories
a. Photography
b. Video recording
c. Archival research
d. Interviews with locals
e. Documentation
19. Description of vernacular architecture
a. Natural boundaries
b. Physical boundaries
c. House and building styles
d. Roof types
e. Decorative elements
f. Functional elements
20. Identify the various building types and uses
a. Naga specific styles
b. Philippine specific styles

Major Tasks/Subtasks:
1. Develop an inventory form for Naga City
2. Conduct a local inventory
3. Prepare an evaluation framework
4. Survey local structures and identify types of Philippines vernacular architecture and
prepare a presentation
5. Prepare a building report on the local influences in Naga City architecture
6. Conduct a site visit to several communities and note the use of areas around the
buildings

Evaluation:
Individual Project: 30%
Participation: 10%
Written Tests: 20%
Group Project: 40%

Lead Institution(s): Ateneo de Naga University and the University of British Columbia, School of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP)
Development History: Adapted from Robert Buckle, MDes Planning, Principle of Heritage
Collaborative Inc.
 APPENDIX C:
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT
C-1: Seven-Step Model – Development of a Research Question
 Appendix C-1

Naga City Participatory Planning Studio Course: A Seven-Step Process to Develop a Research
Question

N–1
Step 1: The Task
To develop a research question based on the improvement of the Youth Development programs
in the city of Naga, the Philippines.
The Participants: Daniel Gerson, Diana Leung, Paola Cassaigne, Charlotte Humphries, and
Megan Faulkner
When: May 16 - June 8, 2007
Where: Naga City, Philippines

Step 2: Goals

• To create a question and a subsequent plan that is accomplishable within the time
frame of the Participatory Planning Studio Course (May 16 - June 8, 2007)
• To create a question and a plan that are both beneficial to the youth of Naga City and
the general Naga City community
• To create both a question and a plan that are sensitive to the specific context of Naga
(both geographically, culturally, politically, and economically) and that are straight
forward and easy to understand and change to better fit with future issues and
concerns
• To create something that will effectively address the issues that Naga is currently
facing with regards to youth and to recommend sustainable ideas that will be easy to
implement and easy to maintain

Step 3: Facts

Strengths

• The participants all have experience working with youth in different contexts
• The participants are passionate about the subject of youth development
• The participants have access to the youth of Naga and to the entire city planning staff
of the city
• The participants have access to international case studies and lessons that will inform
them of what has worked and what has not worked in the past
• The participants have access to the knowledge and research of the other groups
participating in the Naga studio course and as a result have access to other
recommendations being made that might impact youth in Naga - either directly or
indirectly
• The participants have access to all the information and research conducted by the city
of Naga
• The youth community of Naga, the city staff of Naga, and the general population of
Naga are willing to help and participate in any way possible

Weaknesses

• There is not a lot of money to spend on youth issues - budget is a major weakness
 • The participants have no access to money or funds - impossible to implement or begin
any of the recommendations
• There is a significant lack of data (statistics)
• There is a lack of knowledge of what activities street youth participate in and why and
how they arrived in their current state
• There is a lack of knowledge of all the youth related programs offered and existing in
Naga
• The issues affecting youth in Naga are so deep and so rooted in other issues (poverty,
education, agriculture, economics, politics, transportation) that it is difficult to
suggest recommendations that span only one issue
• The problems associated with youth development are costly and complicated and
require the attention of local, national, and international resources and organizations

Opportunities

• The youth are readily available to the participants for consultation and support
• The CYO youths are just finishing their program, and as a result we have the
opportunity to ask them to evaluate the program
• People are willing to help us
• Naga is a rare example of an excellent local government that is concerned with youth
issues and is willing to do everything to improve the lives of its people
• The professor of the course is from the Philippines and is able to offer information,
insight, and support that we might otherwise not have access to
• We have the opportunity to interview and talk to as many people as possible in the
time we have
• We have the opportunity to live in the community we are studying
• Many people in the community speak excellent English, allowing us to understand each
other
• We have received a lot of help and advice from people who have excellent ideas on
what can be done to improve the Naga situation, and as a result we have the
opportunity to take the advice we have received and turn it into something tangible

Threats

• Our objectives might not align with the people or government of Naga
• We are under significant time constraints
• We risk burning out and suffering from a loss of energy and/or motivation
• As outsiders, we do not have access to the cultural idiosyncrasies that operate quietly
in the culture of the people of the Philippines
• We also do not have access to the complete history or truth behind something because
people want to give us the best possible impression of the city, as a result we do not
always see the entire picture as it exists in reality
Step 7: Decide

The following research question was decided upon by the process detailed above and the
analysis of the possible options:

Research question:

“How can Naga city officials foster the engagement and empowerment of all youth to achieve
the following objectives:

a. Institutional and greater community objectives:

- To open opportunities for youth participation.
- To build capacity among youth organizations
- To create social and community capital

b. Youth organizations’ objectives:

- To strengthen linkages among youth organizations, and among these and the
government.
- To increase accessibility
- To foster sustainability, robustness and continuity over time within and between
groups.
- To diversify youth-development programs

Plan:
1st stage: To facilitate a participatory assessment on the current youth program.

2nd stage: To research on good practices on youth participation in good governance and youth
development programs; as well as issues of youth in Naga.

3rd stage: To explore ideas and create new possibilities on how to foster the engagement and
empowerment of all youth through a knowledge sharing participatory process.

Data requirements:
1. Demographics of youth in Naga, desegregated by gender: education, poverty, labor
market participation, etc.
2. Information about formal and informal current youth organizations: programs,
activities, characteristics and amount of participants, outreach strategies, etc.
3. CYO’s mission, vision, constitution, programs, activities, characteristics and amount of
participants, outreach strategies, etc.
 APPENDIX D:
INTERVIEWS
D-1: City Youth Officials (CYO)
D-2: Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)
D-3: Youth of the Pacol Urban Poor Community
D-4: SK Chairperson
D-5: CYO Individual Member
D-6: Kalipi
D-7: Brother of the Missionaries for the Poor in Barangay Cararayan.
 Appendix D-1
Interview: City Youth Officials (CYO)

• The CYO is a program aimed at advancing the citizenship and the governmental
knowledge and appreciation of the youth of Naga City

Structure:
• Every city official in the Naga City government has a youth counterpart in the CYO
• What the city officials do, the CYO members also do
• The CYO are trusted in all city matters and information
• The CYO are prohibited from participating on monetary projects and from handling city
funds
• The CYO assist their respective counterparts when the city officials are busy
• The aim of the CYO program is to help youth of Naga to understand how the
government works, as a result, the CYO are required to spend one month working in
City Hall alongside their counterparts, Monday-Friday, 8 am to 5 pm
• The members of the CYO meet weekly for the forty-five days of the program (April 15-
May31) on Thursdays from 2-4 pm
• 30 of the 45 days the CYO spend working in City Hall with the city officials, and the
final 15 days are spent in the field organizing and running projects and programs
• The programs carried out by the CYO are solely ideas of the CYO members. The CYO’s
then all vote on the most preferred project ideas (this year there were 7 serious
program recommendations and the CYO had to narrow that down to only 4)

Selection Process:
• Before youth can take the CYO entrance exam (which is comprised mainly of
questions about Naga, about government, and about Philippine history) they must
first meet a variety of criteria: youth cannot be working, youth cannot be former
CYO members, youth must be between the ages of , must be Naga city residents for
at least six months or longer, youth must present a water/electricity/rent bill to
prove their residency status
• This year there were 263 applicants, once the exams had been written, the top 46
youth were chosen
• Those 46 youth were then interviewed and the top youth in the interview process
became the Youth Mayor, the second place youth became the Vice-Mayor, etc.
• Once the youth are accepted as CYO members they are put through a 2-day
orientation

Programs:
• This year the CYO organized and facilitated four programs: The Brigada Basa (reading
brigade – encouraging students to read), the Pauruagan (a sing and dance competition),
the Brigada Naga (the cleanup of Naga city streets), the Trade Fair, the Battle of the
Bands, and the Blood Drive
Goals:
• The CYO aims to encourage youth to become involved in government
• The city government encourages the CYO to see what the government and city officials
cannot see because they are too busy or to focused on specifics
• The CYO are encouraged to fight for programs and advancements that are beneficial to
youth in Naga
• The program is meant to focus on the engagement and empowerment of Naga city
youth

Problems:
• Lack of funds: $50, 000 (excluding honorariums, which totaled to $231, 000 this year)
 • Youth participating in the 2007 CYO program were not adequately exposed to what
their counterparts in the government actually did (due to the elections – city officials
were busy with campaigns), CYO’s lacked guidance and support and as a result were
operating on their own for the 45 days of their term
• Youth in Naga are seen by the general public as being unproductive, lazy, and
uninterested in politics or city issues
• Lack of CYO program promotion – youth are uninformed about opportunities like CYO
because of a lack of promotion and youth outreach

Opportunities for Change:

• Change the program from 30 days in office and 15 in the field to 15 in the office and 30
in the field so the youth have more of a chance to organize effective programs
• Promotion of the program on radio and print medias – perhaps a radio show run by
current CYO members promoting it to other youth
• Three year graduated system where first year CYO’s work in the offices for 15 days and
upon beginning the 30 days in the field are joined by second and third year CYO’s who
will be able to provide support, advice, and networking connections between the CYO
and other youth organizations – this way, sustainable linkages would be formed
between different youth groups in Naga
 Appendix D-2
Interview with the SK

SK: Sangguniang Kabataan

- created under local govt code
- highest budget in city 650,000php/year

SK types
- barangay: 1 chairperson, 7 councilors
- federation: assembly of chairpersons (27 in Naga)

SK membership
- Born fil
- 15-17, however law being amended to change to 18-24
- At least 6 months residing in city
- Read and write
o Sir Allen believes members should have leadership skills as well

SK Programs
- Outreach to barangay
- Green Brigade: youth involved in environmental protection
- Livelihood training program: for out of school youth and students
o Food preservation
- Sport activity program

General assembly
- youth 13-30

KK Assembly
- powerful assembly of members
- voters of SK
o Ability to vote and reassess SK and recall councilors
o Makes recommendations on the budget
- Membership approx 350, usually there is 75% attendance
- Parents often participate in meetings
- No strict rules regarding data gathering at assembly

Challenges etc. of SK system

- Budget
o The LGC provides lump sum to Barangay
o If projects of SK not aligned with goals of barangay – no money
- Currently Sir Allen lobbying for SK fiscal autonomy in Congress
o “Congress not ready for youth development” Sir Allen
- Currently, no mandated training period for incoming SK officials
o Steep learning curve

Naga City currently preparing for abolishment of SK - NCCYA

 Appendix D-3
Youth of the Pacol Urban Poor Community

Participants: 4
Ages: 16, 16, 17, 20

Opportunities
• Collaboration and communication between youth organizations (including community
organizations), governmental organizations and youth.
o Linkages between S.K. and church
o Linkages between S.K. and, for example, senior citizens
o Communication between organizations and youth
• Spiritual guidance (from and between youth, community, church, parents etc)
• Youth in Pacol listen to the radio (FM stations)
• Spiritual guidance
o Youth, teachers, friends, parents,
• Prayers
• Inspiration
• Always being positive and optimistic
• Advice from and for parents, S.K. youth
• Unity

Challenges
• Education
o Availability of scholarships to students
o Out of school youth
ƒ Lack of parental guidance
ƒ Lack of financial assistance
ƒ Poverty
ƒ Shortage of food
ƒ Bad influences
ƒ Violence
• Lack of parental guidance
• Lack of financial assistance
• Poverty
• Shortage of food
• Bad influences
• Violence
• Media
o Violence and pornography
• Corruption in the government
• Abortions
• Gambling
• Knowledge of time and date of S.K. assembly
• Prostitution

Quotes from the Dream Session:

“All we hear is the whisper of the wind and the sound of the animals”
“We are united, we love each other”
“I hope that what I see today, is real”
 Appendix D-4
SK Chairperson Interview

• Entered the program at 16

• Five years later as an ex-former member of the SK, became the chairperson for the
barangay
• In each Barangay there is one chairperson and seven councilors. Each counselor is
responsible for a different sector of the SK program: education, environment, peace
and order, infrastructure, health and sanitation, and family and children (missing one).
In barangay* (names have been changed), 4 men and 4 women make up the council
• The programs that are organized and run by the SK are decided upon through
discussions in Barangay committee meetings, though sports programs and sports
development have been the most popular programs
o Indoor (chess, scrabble) and outdoor (basketball) activities
• The SK give priority (special consideration?) to the out of school youth in Naga. This is
done through the zones in each barangay – for example, the barangay is split into 6
zones, each zone has a zone leader, these leaders and other SK members talk with out
of school youth to assess what their primary needs are
• The SK receive 10% of each barangay funds every year

• There is a large problem among out of school youth with drug abuse – this is common in
all barangay
• There is a problem of out of school youth in general dropping out of school or being
unable to finish school because of poverty, most look for employment

• Youth over the age of 18 in Naga spend free time going to disco houses, shopping,
chatting, and watching tv
• Underage youth spend time watching tv, playing basketball, participating in religious
organizations (singing in the choir etc)
• The church sponsors a lot of events and activities for youth in Naga (the Miss Mayflower
fiesta for example)
 Appendix D-5
CYO Interview – with one current female member of the CYO

• Poverty is one of the biggest problems in Naga

• The public school system does not work – it does not have enough teachers for the
number of students and as a result students are only receiving, literally, half the
education of private school students (teachers have to split classes into 2 groups in
order to make them manageable and half the students attend class in the morning
while the other half attend in the afternoon)
• Out of school youth are youth who cannot afford to be in school either because their
parents need them to work and earn money and/or because their parents cannot afford
the educational materials that accompany a grade school education
• Out of school youth spend time looking for jobs, helping their parents, begging, selling
secondhand or garbage items, and sometimes must resort to stealing to earn money
• There is a large problem in Naga with parents who spend money gambling and drinking,
as a result there are a lot of youth who lack time and attention from their parents
• The majority of thieves in Naga are youth – they do use weapons
• There are street gangs in Naga that patrol the street, the gangs are made up of boys
and girls and are referred to as BI (bad influences)
• Naga is seen as having two different categories of organizations: 1) the organized,
political organizations like the SK and the CYO and 2) street gangs made up of drug
addicts and criminals
 Appendix D-6
Interview with Kalipi – The Young Liberals

Kalipi in attendance: 6 members

Kalipi: The Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas

- Kalipi formed in 1997
- Accredited in Naga City People’s Council NCPC
o Represent the youth sector in NCPC
ƒ 20 youth organizations represented in youth sector
o Kalipi coordinates with other sectors within the NCPC
- Youth representative in Naga City Council for Women

Programs and activities

- Trainings
o Political management
o Leadership
o Career guidance
o Technical and vocational skills
- Poll watching
- Training ground for future leaders
- Activities are tied in with Sk and barangay officials

Membership with Kalipi

- 15-35 filipino
- Orientation
- Monthly meetings and national and regional assembly every 3 and 2 years, respectively
- Most members are former SK members, or youth leaders from other organizations
(student govt, sk barangay, church, 4h club, frats/sororities)

Principles and ideology

- free/social market economy
- pluralism
- democracy

Main concerns of youth

1. Education – quality. The problem is poverty and out of school youth
2. Employment – working in one’s area of education. Underemployment. Working abroad.

NCYA and NCYDC

- NCYA is currently inactive, since the change in leadership of chairperson of the
federation of SK.
- Kalipi, in collaboration with City, is currently drafting the code for Naga City Youth
Development Council
o Goals include
ƒ Spread benefits youth can receive from government agencies
ƒ Access to health and education

Youth Coordination – current status

- Inquiring youth are directed to NCPC and the NCPC contacts Kalipi.

Challenges to youth development

- youth togetherness
- budget. Kalipi currently receives special funds from NCPC to carry out programs,
otherwise not funded
- Communication between groups and between City and groups
 Appendix D-7
Interview with a Brother of the Missionaries for the Poor in Barangay Cararayan.

Cararayan is the poorest Barangay in Naga – aprox 600 families.

Mission houses 120 people – mostly disabled, abandoned, most needy of the poor
Also does outreach work in the community
They take care of those housed with them permanently – supply everything including food.

When asked about situation for 15 year olds, and youth in the barangay:
• Most study high school, sometimes one child doesn’t study so that the others can.
• After high school, no studying – some go to other family members to work.
• Boys seldom work “just waste time all day”
• Girls are more dedicated to finding work – often travel to manila to look for jobs.
• More responsible than boys
• Boys depend more on stuff from parents, waiting for something to happen. Eventually
something happens… they find some kind of work through family…
• Girls are more entrepreneurial
• Boys get into smoking, alcohol, drugs, theft… (But little problem with drugs in Naga)
• Violence is very rare
• Problems start early in life – don’t have high expectations of self – growing up in
environments of under-achievers

Not much resentment towards the higher social classes.

Programs that help:

City w rotary club: Electrician training program – many participated, some got jobs from it
Need more training programs like this.

Other programs through the rotary club and barangay captain,

Broken families and low church attendance = problem

Some handicraft programs help women, others become nuns.

SK program might not be so strong here (brother didn’t know about it’s presence)

Barangay captain (tried to visit the captain was not there)

Youth are not so politically engaged

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