ILOILO – The Provincial Local Youth Development Council (LYDC) would soon be functional, according to Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) provincial federation president Ma. Angelica Bianca Requinto.
Making the LYDC active was one of the campaign vows of the SK federation president in line with Republic Act 10742 (Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015) that mandates the creation of LYDC “to ensure wide and multi-sectoral youth participation in local governance.”
Under the law, the provincial, municipal or city youth development council of a local government must be headed by the SK federation president of that province, town or city.
The youth development council should be made up of representatives from the youth and youth-serving organizations.
The LYDC would assist in planning and implementing SK programs and projects. It shall be funded by either the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
If the funds of the local government unit are sufficient, the LYDC can be a separate department with divisions and units for policy and planning, administration and finance, and programs and operations.
In the event when the local government unit has exceeded the prescribed personal services limitations, the local chief executive may designate existing personnel whom he or she deems fit to serve this purpose until such time that the local government unit can already create this office.
According to Requinto, right after she was sworn in as SK provincial federation president and ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, she started going around Iloilo conferring with various SK councils and youth organizations on the composition of the Iloilo LYDC.
Among the priorities of Requinto are extending assistance to “troubled youths” such as those facing teenage pregnancy and drug addiction, and those victimized by human traffickers.
Requinto also appealed to all local governments to create municipal LYDCs where the youth could seek help and participate in local governance./PN
