Youth unconvinced with Cha-cha at this time

UNLESS a genuine and intensified information campaign is undertaken, any pronouncement on the merits of Charter change will be viewed by the youth sector as irrelevant to the agenda it is pursuing.

Julia Abad, in a presentation during the C4CC sectoral consultation on Charter change last 07 July 2007, said that Cha-cha is not necessary at this time in the youth agenda and in addressing the current problems of the sector.

Abad also stressed that Cha-cha might be more acceptable only after the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Aware of the interests of the youth, reactors agreed with Abad that the members of the sector can easily be distracted by other concerns such school workloads, and thus make focusing on the advocacy issue a problem.

Given the divergent interests, reactors expressed doubts on whether it is possible to consolidate the youth sector’s different positions. It is feared that Cha-cha discussions would also further drive a wedge on the already divided nature of the sector.

Moreover, the resistance to the Cha-cha anchors on the reactors’ belief that there are enough provisions in the Constitution at present to protect and pursue the youth agenda.

On the proposal for a federalist government, the participants are open for further discussions but only after more thorough review and examination. The related questions that require in-depth study pertains to the manner of democratizing spaces for student participation in governance given the controversies surrounding the existing mechanisms for participation such as SK and NYC.

Also suggested during the sectoral consultation is the need to lengthen the analysis of the youth sector agenda, adjust the perspective on education as geared not only for employment, and come up with more specific policy recommendations such as the one relating to budget subsidy. The institutional views on these subjects should be taken into account aside from individual perspectives.