AWHOLEOFANATIONSSUPPORT

ONWESTPHILIPPINESEA:
ACALLFORACTION

NYC 2013 of the Philippines

Youth, Peace and Nation

TheBackground
The KIG (Kalayaan Island Group) is home to
marinebiodiversity,fossilfuelssuchasoilandnatural
gas, and fisheries resources with a reef of about 1000
sq. km. The area hosts the breeding grounds and
shelters for fishes and other marine organisms. KIG,
being a 5th Class municipality of the province of
Palawan and is located within the claimed West
Philippine Sea (WPS) territories in accordance to
AdministrativeOrderNo.29,Seriesof2012,isvitalto
the national and economic survival of the country
(Pitlo III, 2013). Economically, 20% of the countrys
fisheriescatchiscomingfromtheWPS.TheWPSrich
infossilfuelsaccountsfor11billionbarrelsofoil,190
trillioncubicfeetofnaturalgas,andinadditiontothe
unexplored areas that can potentially hold more oil
and gas reserves has an estimated value of energy
reservesashighas$1Trillion.Thus,ourpresentand
future economic survival largely depends on the
sustainable managed utilization of these marine
resources in the WPS which is under threat from
poaching and use of illegal and destructive fishing
practicesandtherecentlysignificantlyreclamationsof
theChineseGovernment.
In consonance, local fishermen visiting certain
parts in the WPS for livelihood such as fishing
activities are likewise being forcefully harassed and
chasedawaybyarmedmenandparamilitaryshipsof
otheroccupants(cited).Theimportancetodevelopthe
countrys maritime capabilities to protect the local
fishermenlivingintheareasandtoprotectthemarine
resources and biodiversity in the WPS for future
economicdevelopmentandsustainabilityisabsolutely
andhighlyneeded.

TheYouthResponse
Thus, the NYC 2013 of the Philippines upholds its
advocacy on protecting the marine environment and the
naturalresourcesintheWPS.Initslastyearseffort,theNYC
2013 facilitated 4 small foras from July to September 2014
held in the Barangays and Schools with the theme
Appreciative Inquiry Approach on Environmental
Stewardship on the Issues of the West Philippine Sea: A
Tool for Community Engagement. The first forum was
attended by 40 youth leaders in Brgy. Sauyo, the second was
participated by 200 NSTP students of PUPQC, the 3rd was
enjoined by 140 school leaders, education and criminology
studentsofPLMar,andthelastwasparticipatedby150school
and community leaders in the Brgy. Putatan in Muntinlupa
City. On September 10, 2014, another forum was held in
BulwagangKap.MoyinMarikinaCitywhichwasenjoined
by about 400 school and community students and leaders,
including teachers and school officials from participating
schoolsandorganizations.Inthatforum,PanelofDiscussants
were Prof. Adriano DC. Balagot (DAMLAY Philippines
Founder), Dr. Fernando P. Siringan (UPMSI), Dir. Arsenio R.
Andolong(DND),Dr.RonaldL.Adamat(FormerCongressman
forIPs),Cong.FranciscoAshleyL.Acedillo(MAGDALOParty
list), Mr. Morris Marco S. Lim (NCCA Legal Assistant),
Commodore Joel S. Garcia (PCGMEPCOM) and MGEN
Lysander A Suerte (AFPCMOJ7) was also present in the
course of the discussions. The forum were facilitated by Dr.
RosalieA.CorpusandProf.SherylR.MoralesfromPolytechnic
University of the Phillipines. The Panel of Discussants gave
their point of views in different perspectives on WPS with
emphasesat4propositions1)SupportAction,2)Protection
of the Natural Resources and Marine Life, 3) Peace and
Conflict Resolution Advocacy, and 4) Social Awareness
andPeoplesInitiatives.
Insupporttotheinternationalcallontheprotectionand
preservationofthemarineenvironmentandnaturalresources
intheworld,theNYC2013isurgedtostrengthenitsadvocacy
in the 2 propositions, respectively the 1) Protection of the
NaturalResourcesandMarineLife,andthe2)Increasing
ofSocialAwarenessandPeoplesInitiativesaspartofits
commitment during the NYC 2013 CapacityBuilding held on
December1819,2014atAFPGCSC.
3

OurAction
In lieu of the advocacy, the NYC 2013 will
conduct another series of foras on the issues of the
WPS with emphasis on the Protection and
Preservation of the Marine Environment and its
Natural Resources. The Series of foras will be held
inPUPSta.Mesa,QuezonCityPolytechnicUniversity
(QCPU), Pamantasang Lungsod ng Marikina
(PLMAR), and in the Pamantasan ng Montalban
(UniversityofMontalban)withtheNSTPfacultyand
studentleadersasparticipatingaudiences.
The main goals of the foras are: to strengthen
the role of the youth in nationbuilding as prescribed
in the Section 3 of the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) of the National Service
Training Program (NSTP) which states that
NSTP refers to the program aimed at enhancing
civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the
youth by developing the ethics of service and
patriotism
to increase the awareness of the Filipinos on the
current situations of the WPS and to deepen their
knowledge of the importance of WPS to the countrys
nationalsecurityandeconomicsurvival;and
to acknowledge the provision of the UNCLOS, Part
XII of Section 1, Article 192 which states that
States have the obligation to protect and preserve
marineenvironment.
As a way forward, the NYC 2013 hope to
recommend that the aforementioned goals may be
included in the NSTP components and into other
relatedsubjectsaspartofthefocaldiscussions.
Therefore, Our Narrative is a civilian
initiative and a demonstration of support by the
Filipino People to protect and improve sustainable
developmentoftheKIGintheWPS.
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Citations:
TheTerritorialandJurisdictionDisputesfromaFilipinoPerspective,APrimer.
(TheAsianCenterandInstituteforMaritimeAffairsandLawoftheSea,
UniversityofthePhilippines,July152013)
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fthediplomat.com%2F2013
%2F10%2Fthephilippinesandthewestphilippinesea%2F2%2F&h=RAQEh9
GCe
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/475282/news/nation/justicecarpiochi
nasreclamationposesnationalcrisisforphl

Aboutus:
TheSecretariat
NYC2013ofthePhilippines
NationalCapitalRegion,Brgy.Sauyo,QuezonCity
SECREG.NO.CN201505376
ContactNos.(Tel.:4309150/
Mobile:09096867697/09085535506)

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