28 Pinoy Youth Ambassadors to join 34th SSEAYP
Twenty-eight of the Philippines' finest youth leaders are sailing the seas to participate in a diplomatic and cultural exchange program aimed at cultivating the spirit of Asian cooperation. They will represent the country to the 34th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP).
The delegation is a select group of young professionals, young professionals, educators, community workers, students, artists, writers, designers and musicians. Among these youth ambassadors are from Region VI Iloilo SK Provincial Federation President Jeneda C. Salcedo and Jason B. Mande Information Officer 1 of the Province of Antique.
They will be part of more than 300 young Asian leaders who will spend six weeks on board the Japanese luxury ship Nippon Maru where they will be involved in activities such as institutional visits and home stays in participating countries, discussion groups, cultural presentations, and other goodwill exchanges which are geared towards broadening international perspective.
SSEAYP is an annual diplomatic and cultural exchange program sponsored by the Japanese government whose goal is to promote friendship and mutual understanding among emerging youth leaders from the 10 participating Southeast Asian countries and Japan.
The Office of the President of the Philippines through the National Youth Commission selected this year's 28 Philippine youth ambassadors for the program to be held in Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines and Japan. The youth ambassadors were chosen from among thousands of applicants from across the country. This year's Philippine delegation calls itself PAGSIKAT.
Other Philippine Participating Youths (PPY) are Ralph Irish S. Aguda and Ma. Elena R. Abundo (Region I), Ritchie A. Rivera (Region II), Alden Roi D. Copuyoc and Myra M. Gabito (Region III), Phillip Norbert Ahmad L. Medina and Joanne Kristine M. Mamaril (Region IV), Eddie R. Balunso and Indira B. Tabo (Region V), Jason B. Mande and Jeneda C. Salcedo (Region VI), Michael Nicholas D. Malazarte and Janice Aurora B. Tirol (Region VII), Eugene C. Sosing and Anna Celeste M. Agabe (Region VIII), Marvin F. Delfin and Giselle Iris M. Alano (Region IX), Hector G. Quilang and Angelie S. Azcuna (Region X), Jonald T. Boyoc and Precious Ann Legario (Region XI), Jaypee B. Carmen and Jocelyn B. Lambac (Region XII), Aiza Mae J. Kanda (Region XIII), Ronald C. Lopez (CAR), Bai Erisha C. Sinsuat (ARMM) and Albert John M. Mallari and Astarte D. Abraham (NCR).
At the helm of this year's batch is national leader Raul Dominic "Dino" Badilla, the National Youth Commission's Commissioner-at-Large for Luzon. Youth Leader Indira Tabo and Assistant Youth Leader Jason Mande will join Badilla and shall be granted an audience with several heads of state, prime ministers, members of parliament, monarchs and government ministers. These meetings focus on discussions regarding possibilities of further strengthening regional partnerships among the participating nations.
The Philippine delegation will officially join its counterparts from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan in Singapore on October 22 for the inauguration ceremony.