Pasaway is not really a negative
term, as for me, I am calling myself Pasaway all the time by standing firm on
my own opinion even the rest are talking against my point.
I was invited by Toni from the
office of Senator Bam Aquino and as much as I wanted to come, I can’t because I
have work that day. So I just sent my two colleagues from the Blogosphere to
cover that event. Anyway, to all Pasaway
in the world, don’t you worry, those crazy enough are the ones who can change
the world as mentioned by one very popular pasaway, Steve Jobs.
Read on about the Press Release
below.
A ranking
official of the National Youth Commission (NYC) encouraged young Filipinos to
be “pasaway” by “standing up against the status quo” to effect positive change
in their communities and the country.
“Young
people [have] stood up against the status quo. Young people have changed a lot
of endings in many stories,” NYC Commissioner Percival Cendaña said at the
opening of the screening of the 20 finalists for the Ten Accomplished Youth
Organizations (TAYO) Awards.
For
Cendaña, the TAYO finalists epitomize the “pasaway” tag as they were able to
break away from the norm and find, implement, reinvent, and provide “cool
solutions" to "age-old" problems in their communities.
“Cool
means appropriate, current, and relevant. Cool is a superlative to young
people,” said Cendaña, hoping that the stories of these 20 finalists could
inspire other youth and hopefully, the nation.
Senator
Bam Aquino, chairman of the panel of judges and a co-founder of the annual TAYO
Awards, said that the “pasaway mindset” has enabled advocates to push for
reforms and help make “sustainable change happen.”
“Meaningful
change doesn’t happen when people just stand by and accept the status quo.
Long-term, sustainable change happens when people are willing to challenge the
norm and take risks,” Sen. Aquino stressed.
The
lawmaker also said that the TAYO finalists are already winners for effecting
change in their respective communities through different programs and projects.
The 20 finalists
bested over 300 entries from around the country, for the innovative and
changemaking projects that they started in their local communities, schools,
and workplaces.
Redefining
"pasaway"
The
Medical Missions Incorporated Student Group is a group of students from the
University of Sto. Tomas who recently launched a week-long medical mission,
including free check-up, medications, and surgical operations in General Santos
City.
Meanwhile,
members of the Phi Kappa Mu Fraternity from the University of the
Philippines-Manila started the Operating Room Assistance Program, or “Project
OpeRA, which creates ways and means for indigent pediatric patients to receive
quality and timely surgical interventions at the Philippine General Hospital
and other government hospitals.
The Love
Yourself Inc., a youth group from Taguig City, provides awareness, counseling,
and education to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among Men having Sex with
Men (MSM), the youth sector, and other high risk groups.
A volunteer
youth group, the Tulong sa Kapwa Kapatid has been teaching and providing
financial assistance to an impoverished community in Payatas, Quezon City,
where they also incorporate parents and Catechism lessons for values formation.
Upsilon
Sigma Phi, a fraternity from UP-Diliman and the finalist from the National Capital
Region, started Mission: Katutubo Village in Porac, Pampanga. The organization
adopted an indigenous community where they work on a long-term development plan
involving social, educational, material, health, and empowerment interventions.
Meanwhile,
the Association of Filipino Forestry Students-UPLB established a two-hectare
mangrove stand in Brgy. Pinagbayanan in Pagbilao, Quezon in its effort to make
a mark in environment protection and contribute to the community’s
socio-economic growth.
The Ateneo
Sarong Bangui Junior Eagles Club from the Ateneo de Naga University has the
“Tarpadyak” program, where they convert used tarpaulins into durable protective
pedicab coverings to promote waste management and tourism.
Kawil
Tours, on the other hand, has played a large role in boosting tourism in
Culion, Palawan through eco-tourism; while Maestro Club, composed of education
students, produces an interactive newsletter for children and their families
promoting environmental awareness in Tuguegarao, the hottest place in the
Philippines.
The Tanay
Mountaineers Incorporated started a Disaster Risk Reduction Advocacy Program,
through which they train youth residents of Tanay, Rizal to serve as first
responders and as primary local resources on multiple disaster risk reduction
trainings.
In the
Visayas, the youth also actively participate in community building projects and
programs that address the problems of sexual assault, health, juvenile
delinquency and education.
In Cebu
City, the Gualandi Volunteer Service Program, Inc. started the “Break The
Silence Network Project”, a youth-led NGO fighting against sexual assault of
deaf children and women.
In Ormoc
City , the Hayag Youth Organization began the Langoy Para sa Kaluwasan Program,
which addresses the lack of swimming skills, water safety awareness, and
disaster preparedness through a three-day swim camp for 70-plus children and
youth from the city’s 10 poorest barangays.
The Rescue
Assistance Peacekeeping Intelligence Detail (RAPID) Inc. focuses on gathering
"rugby boys" in Cebu City with the help of local police, and helps
reintegrate them back into society.
The United
Architects of the Philippines Student Auxiliary Foundation University Chapter
in Dumaguete City launched the Estudio Damgo-Dungga Daycare Center , an
architecture program where senior students design and build an actual structure
for their chosen community.
In Mandaue
City, the University of San Carlos-Pathways started "Bridging the
Gap", where 31 high school students from five different local schools are
provided a four-week program of tutorials, seminars, and workshops in
preparation for college.
In
Mindanao, the Association of Locally Empowered Youth-NM promotes
entrepreneurship to youths in urban slums in the cities of Dipolog and Dapitan,
by teaching them to produce vegetables through hydroponics or soil-less
cultivation.
The
Tagum-based TC Youth Laboratory Cooperative teaches youth the value of savings
and financial security by “bringing the bank to the schools” while Team BUNDOL
Mountaineers from Alabel, Sarangani conducts environmental activities and
outreach programs to far-flung communities as part of their climb.
Volunteer
Service Provider, a finalist from Davao City, constructs and deploys man-made,
dome-shaped structures with holes, on "conducive but de-coralized
seabeds", to serve as fish shelters and to help boost the fish population
in the area; while the Watershed Management Youth Council share its love for
environment through music and fashion.
From the
20 finalists, 10 organizations will be chosen as the TAYO winners. Aside
from the specially commissioned trophy sculpted by Mr. Toym De Leon Imao, the
winning organizations will receive a grant of P50,000 that they can use to fund
new projects or continue their long-term programs.
Over a
decade of defining a new norm
Now on its
11th year, the annual TAYO Awards is the country's premier recognition program
for youth organizations. It was co-founded in 2002 by former Senator Kiko
Pangilinan and now-Senator Bam Aquino, together with the TAYO Awards Foundation
and the National Youth Commission. Through the years, over 2,000 youth
organizations from different parts of the Philippines have vied for the awards.
It is
currently headed by TAYO President Aika Robredo, presented by the Coca-Cola
Foundation Philippines, and supported by Smart Communications, Jollibee,
Philippine Airlines, and Lenovo.
