Fil-Am youth discover their roots

MANILA, Philippines - Meet the 10 delegates to the 2013 Filipino-American Youth Leadership Program (FYLPro), a three-day program here that allows Fil-Am youths to connect with their roots and be acquainted with the state of the country.

Nico Barawid, 23, a graduate (with honors) of Yale University now pursuing a Master’s of Public Policy at the University of Oxford, cites the major role of Filipino advocacy in his life.

“We have been blessed with so many privileges and opportunities, so we have an obligation to give back to people for whom the structural factors haven’t been as positive,” he says.

“To whom much is given, much is expected. As a member of the Filipino community, you want to bring up everybody else,” seconds Melissa Medina, 24, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and liaison and legislative assistant at the US House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee.

The delegates have embarked on different initiatives in the US to advance their advocacies and hope that they could duplicate their programs here in the Philippines.

Rex Brown Jr., 25, a B.S. in Business Management, summa cum laude graduate from San Diego State University and now a strategist at Google Inc., founded Baskets 4 Hope, a non-profit organization that empowers inner-city youth through athletic events and mentoring services.

Rex says he started Baskets 4 Hope in 2007, when his friend was murdered in San Francisco.

“He was my basketball teammate. We did a basketball tournament in honor of his wife,” Rex says.

“The success of the tournament prompted us to think that we can do more of it, engage the youth in a recreational activity to avoid senseless murders.”

Rex says funding comes from corporations, and they won a Nike grant in 2009, plus they have partnerships with 20 local businesses.

“I applied to the FYL leadership program because I want to reconnect with my roots. I hope that through our immersion here we will find ways on how we can help our fellow Filipinos,” he says.

Meanwhile, Nico believes that one thing the Aquino administration needs to focus on is pro-poor economic policies such as increasing the minimum wage.

“Economic policy is not only about investments, but also about growth trickling down to the poor,” says Nico.

Multi-awarded former student leader Rachell Ocampo, 26, a health educator at Queens Hospital Center, says education is the most important tool to overcome poverty.

Anthony Guevara, 26, senior loan officer at Affiliated Bank Mortgage and founder of the Filipino-American Council of South Texas, says they want to make sure that there is transparency in government transactions.

“We want to ensure that there is no kupit (kickbacks), that allocations go to the right people,” he says.

Edward Santos, 27, who served in Teach for America based in East Harlem, New York where he worked with underserved students, says all Filipinos should be given equal opportunity to be successful.

“The poorest schools should get the best teachers,” he says.

Bea Querido, 27, who finished with high honors at the George Washington University and Stanford, says that in Washington, a lot of Filipinos work as contractors for defense organizations like her, while others are lobbyists, lawyers and doctors.

“Very few are in the financial sector,” says Bea, who is the president of Filipino Young Professionals in Washington.

Dennis Rodriguez Jr., 34, and currently on his second term as senator in the 32nd Guam Legislature, adds that in Guam, Pinoys have helped build infrastructure and buildings.

“Being a Filipino, there is that sense of pride when you see how your fellow Pinoys have contributed to the betterment of something,” Dennis says.

Anthony adds that “there’s so much more to being a Filipino than knowing boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and eating adobo.”

“We want to bridge the gap. We want to change the perception that Fil-Ams don’t care – because we do care. We want to bring out the best in the Philippines,” he says.

Other delegates to the second FYL program, sponsored by the Ayala Foundation, ABS-CBN and other corporate sponsors, were Julien Baburka, 26, policy advisor at the office of the Illinois governor; and Randy Cortez, 25, a program specialist at the US State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.