San Vicente youth concerned over health, education and environment

Young people in San Vicente town are mostly concerned about health, education, and environment, the result of a recent youth forum in the town showed.

Mark Tabangay, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation president of the town, said to address these concerns of over 600 youth participants, solutions have been identified and included in the Local Youth Development Plan (LYDP) they crafted on October 6.

“Since we are a premiere tourist destination, malaki ang gagampanang role talaga ng mga kabataan in securing a clean and efficient environment in San Vi- cente,” Tabangay said.

He said the youth participants discussed the rising number of teen pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis, dengue, and malaria.

The town’s youth also agreed to appeal to the municipal government to allow internships and to remove miscellaneous fees in “free education,” he said.

While tuition fees are now free, there are stil many poor residents of San Vicente that are out of school because they cannot afford the cost of transportation and miscellaneous fees.

“Main purpose talaga nito ay to train them and ma-expose sa government operations para in the next few years, sila na yong magiging empleyado ng munisipyo. Kapag dumating yong time na ‘yon mas knowledgeable sila sa operations,” he said.

Tabangay said his fellow youth believe that they need more education on solid waste management awareness, disaster risk preparation, wildlife preservation, and others to ensure a sustainable environment.

During a meeting with SK chairpersons from the towns 10 barangays, “we agreed to ensure the implementation of the LYDP that has been allocated P1.5 to P2 million for Year 1-2018,” he said.