29 Pinoy youths chosen as goodwill ambassadors

Twenty-nine of the country's youth leaders will sail the seas to tell Asia how great it is to be Filipino.

This year's delegates to the 32nd Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) are a group of students and young professionals chosen by the National Youth Commission from thousands of potential applicants across the country.

They were officially declared Philippine Participating Youth after a thorough screening that included a panel interview and a 10-day pre-departure training in Pililla, Rizal last July.

The FREEMAN news reporter, Joeberth Ocao, was chosen to represent Region 7 together with Shiela Tuale, a teacher from the province of Siquijor. The Cebu provincial government is supporting this year's delegation as a major sponsor.

Official delegates include Peterjo Salenda (Region 1), Mark Theodore Baccay and Bethzaida Gamiao (Region 2), Shierwin Taay and Jacquelyn Iglesias (Region 3), Emil Layacan Jr. and Charina Carmen Cabading (Region 4), Jyro Trivino and Rosie Avila (Region 5), Robert Rodriguez and Nizette Monteblanco (Region 6), Joeberth Michael Marti Ocao and Shiela Tuale (Region 7), Merwin Kangleon (Region 8), Michael Radi and Janine Michelle Cabato (Region 9), Marvin Glenn Fernandez and Heidi Joan Calo (Region 10), Rotchie Ravelo and Ria Florlynn Tumlad (Region 11), Alfredo Gersava Jr. and Junaisa Mudsol (Region 12), Adillah Latiph (ARMM), Merinessa Dimaano (CARAGA), Ivan Baguilat and Yana Gail Castillo (CAR), and Roy Nicolas Molon Jr. and Stephanie Jane Dy Tiapco (NCR).

This year's National Leader is Ramon Lacbain II who himself was a participating youth in 1991 and who currently serves as vice governor in the province of Zambales. Taay, a provincial board member of Aurora province is Youth Leader while Monteblanco, a litigation lawyer in Iloilo City, is Assistant Youth Leader.

An annual cultural exchange program sponsored by the Japanese government, SSEAYP aims to promote friendship and mutual understanding among youth delegates from the 10 participating Southeast Asian countries and Japan.

The Philippine delegation will join its counterparts from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan for 43 days on board the Japanese ship Nippon Maru.

Activities such as institutional visits and home stays in the participating countries, discussion groups, cultural presentations, and other goodwill exchanges are geared towards broadening international perspective and cultivating the spirit of Asian cooperation.

This year's delegation is named PAGLAUM, a Visayan term for hope. PAGLAUM also stands for "PAGLAlakbay tungo sa Umaga" or a journey towards a prosperous tomorrow.

Since the Philippine delegation has consistently been regarded as an outstanding contingent in the 31 years of SSEAYP, the group is currently undergoing a month-long preparation that include cultural rehearsals and further training on diplomatic procedures before departing for Malaysia next month.

On November 3, 2005, a send-off concert in Manila would give SSEAYP alumni, friends, family, and sponsors a glimpse of the cultural presentations that the delegation will showcase on board the ship and in the host countries.

Aside from the Cebu provincial government, other supporters of the delegation include Senator Edgardo Angara, San Miguel Corporation, Municipality of Biñan, Province of Aurora, Malaysian Airlines, Puerto Princesa City, Home Development and Mutual Fund, Province of Laguna, Province of Sultan Kudarat, Province of Bulacan, Land Bank of the Philippines and SSEAYP International Philippines.