SM Supermalls gathers thousands of Filipino youth leaders

MANILA, Philippines - SM Supermalls recently hosted the 2013 Global Youth Summit (GYC), the biggest gathering of youth leaders in the country, on Sept. 21 at SM North Edsa Sky Dome.

With the theme “Breaking the Box,” the conference assembled student and youth leaders from all over the Philippines and overseas who are in a pursuit for progress and development through innovation, creativity and empowerment.

Organized by the local wing of the global youth network of AIESEC, the summit also involved the participation of some of the country’s biggest corporations and acclaimed NGOs. AIESEC head for programs from UP Diliman and member of the GYS organizing committee Bea Luna highlighted how important the event was in boosting the potentials of and igniting the fire in today’s youth.

“We wanted to bring ideas from around the world to our delegates to create relevant impact. After that, we want them to create their own initiatives to share these ideas and impart change. SM is one of our major enablers in attaining our end vision for this program,” Bea said.

According to SM Cares Children’s Committee program director Royce Cabunag, the partnership with AIESEC is part of their objective of recognizing the Filipino youth as a valuable asset of the country.

“We partnered with different organizations like AIESEC to promote positive change to our consumers. We want them to know that we’re not all about shopping. We are also here to develop and shape the mindset of the young,” he asserted.

The event posed case challenges, some advocacies and priorities that should be focused on by the country, most especially the young. This includes environmental awareness, education, technology and livelihood and volunteerism.

Influential and respected youth leaders leaders and professionals like journalist Atom Araullo, techno-entrepreneur Dustin Dacanay, Habitat Philippines YC founder Alex Eduque, musician and broadcast personality Lourd de Veyra, and WTO judge for International Trade Dispute Settlement System Tony Abad were invited to speak.

Tony Abad lauds the participation of SM in this noble cause. “I think (that the partnership with AIESEC is) good because SM has that power to influence the youth and the Philippine economy. It’s nice to see that they’re trying to give back to the community and the country,” he said.

Cabunag affirmed that SM takes pride in being part of the development of the youth through the GYS. “We invite other leaders from various fields to impart their knowledge and ideas on the different case challenges being tackled today. In turn, we hope that the thousands of students here can learn from our resource speakers. We provide to them, not only the venue, but also the avenue, to interact with one another and learn from each other by sharing ideas.”

SM Supermalls has programs year-round that advocate the cause. “We recently joined the International Labor Organization’s campaign against child labor wherein we donated school shoes and socks to help get child laborers off the workforce and put them back to school. This coming October, we have another program for the welfare of children — again we’re bringing in students from the provinces to enjoy, learn and experience what we have here at the malls.”

To know more about SM Cares and their various advocacy programs, visit and like SM CSR Program on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/smcsrprogram.