The National Youth Commission on Wednesday said some youth groups in the country had links to communist rebels and ordered 400,000 Sangguniang Kabataan officials to join the government’s fight against Leftist insurgency.
Ronald Cardema, NYC chairman, said these youth groups regularly criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and the military yet had turn a blind eye on atrocities committed by communist rebels.
“Every week, you have the capacity to rally against our government troops but for the longest time Philippine society has not heard of your rallies against armed rebels of our country,” he told ANC, which was beamed nationwide.
The NYC is a government agency that specifically addresses issues surrounding the Filipino youth. It was founded on June 30, 1995, via Republic Act 8044 or the Youth in Nation-Building Act.
It specifically addresses issues surrounding the Filipino youth and is the government’s sole policy-making body on youth affairs and also coordinates and implements some programs designed to help the youth be more aware of the issues surrounding them.
Its NYC mandate is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution: “The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism; and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.”
On July 4, 2016, NYC was among the 12 agencies, formerly from the Office of the President reassigned to the Office of the Cabinet Secretary.
On Oct. 31, 2018, the Commission, through Executive Order No. 67, was transferred to the Department of the Interior and Local Government along with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos and the Philippine Commission on Women as part of the reorganization of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary.
But, according to Raoul Manuel of Youth Act Now Against Tyranny, a group critical of the administration, a lot of youth groups like them had been advocating peace talks to resolve the roots of armed conflict.
Manuel added that rallies of youth groups were not focused on condemning military abuse alone, and claimed demonstrations raised several issues, none of which, he said, the NYC had addressed in any press statement.