I’ve always had this mindset that I—and you—should never be afraid of learning as it will lead you somewhere beautiful and meaningful. This mindset led me to a life-changing Leadership and Democracy (Lead) Fellowship of Youth Leadership for Democracy (YouthLed), a leadership development program implemented by The Asia Foundation and supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The experience is a humble addition to my leadership journey.

I am Edu Garcia Macabatas, a 28-year-old youth development officer from Tagum City, deeply committed to empowering my fellow youth and contributing meaningfully with the work I do. I believe that continuous growth is essential to making a greater impact, and that’s why I seek to learn more, expand my network and enhance my leadership skills.

As John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” These words resonate with me, and they are part of the reason I joined the Lead-Future Bridging Leaders Program (FBLP)—to confidently embrace my role as a leader and continue to inspire those around me.

Continuing the care cycle

Amid the limitations of health professionals in the city including occupational therapists, speech therapists and developmental pediatricians, our efforts to provide continuing services for our children with learning disability and those children catered to by the Atiman (Atimanun, Tagdon, Ilhon, Matutuon, Amumahon Nato) Center of the city government should not stop. Personally, I have seen this challenge among our children and youth—the challenge of continuing the care cycle. This motivated me to develop my Change Project in the Lead-FBLP Fellowship called Project #YouMatter: Referral Pathway for Continuing Intervention.

Project #YouMatter aims to provide community support services to children with learning disabilities and their parents, assisting their recovery through a childcare collective model. One of its features is task shifting, where we assign the roles of professionals to nonspecialists such as parents under appropriate supervision and training.

We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Atiman Center through Dr. Joyce Hernani, head of the center, and Martha Palero, a psychometrician of the Center. The Atiman Center of Tagum City is a resource room for children and youth needing psychological intervention.

Under this partnership, we initially provided play therapy materials to assist in helping diagnosed children express their emotions and thoughts. We learned that these materials also facilitate therapeutic engagement to process trauma, reduce anxiety, and develop coping mechanisms through creative and imaginative play.

We also conducted Pakighinabi sessions where we consult with parents about their challenges and situations in relation to taking care of their children with learning disabilities.

More efforts are underway as we deepen our partnership with the community and stakeholders, and it will be implemented in three phases. We will conduct a Functional Daily Living Skills (FDLS) training, practical session, and immersion for parents of children diagnosed with learning disabilities. This three-month childcare training will empower parents and guardians to provide home-based assistance to their kids.

We will then implement Ginikanan, Kaya Yan, a post-training initiative that aims to organize our parents into community volunteers who will help other families augment support for the children needing assistance with FDLS.Lastly, we will implement Kalinga sa Tahanan, a social enterprise effort for parents needing support in setting up a livelihood start-up such as a sari-sari store or community store.

Larger impact

I believe the potential of Project #YouMatter to create a larger impact is yet to unfold as it is now part of the many projects outlined in the city’s newly approved Local Youth Development Plan for 2025 to 2028.

Our efforts for democracy extend beyond our city. Our office co-organized Dyesabel Philippines’ Davao Young Leaders Congress (DYLC) together with the regional youth coalition Leaders United for Progressive Advocacies of Davao-Soccskargen (Lupad). As an office, we are happy to have shared our efforts on good governance and democratic practices. This successful partnership led our office to localize the DYLC into the Tagum Young Leaders Congress (TYLC).

Personally, I want to unleash the potential of our youth and encourage them to participate in various opportunities in our city. The TYLC opened such meaningful opportunities to 25 exceptional young leaders in Tagum. They participated in learning sessions on project management, stakeholders’ management, policy formulation, and project pitching, underscoring the entire theme of “Kamalayan Para sa Bayan”—to increase their social awareness and drive to act on it.

Youth projects

The three-day congress produced many exceptional projects. JJ Titus Aguilar, a young scout and active youth leader in Tagum City, bagged the best project of the batch. His project aims to increase the linguistic and cultural awareness of the Dibabawon youth of Tagum through a language and cultural camp called “Pag-anad ta Bata.”

Jaime Escarpe, a young designer who aims to empower the young generation on entrepreneurship through arts and crafts, also emerged as one of the top-performing leaders at the congress. (I am proud to share that the modern barong I wore during our youth festival in Tagum was made by Jaime.)

The 25 young leaders of TYLC are now part of the Tagum Young Leaders Organization (TYLO).

We continued to champion democracy and youth participation during the celebration of the International Youth Day in August. Our office, together with Lupad, organized the Usapang Youth: A Talk on Deliberative Democracy.

This talk sparked Lupad to initiate the Lupad Talks as a sustainability effort.

The skills and techniques I learned in the LEAD-FBLP program provided me the courage to look at the community as not only mere recipients of development but also as active partners toward our shared commitment for youth development.

50 young leaders

Last June 16, we organized 50 young leaders in Tagum to be advocates for climate and disaster management efforts. We call them Young Climate and Disaster Actors or YCADA. This group is now our partner in environmental and climate campaigns. The group has conducted clean-up drives, water search and rescue training, and mangrove analysis. Their efforts have already led them to win awards at the local and national levels.

YCADA is working closely with the City Planning Office and City Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Office to continuously strengthen the city’s climate and disaster management programs.

We also organized the Tagum NextGen Entrepreneurs last Aug. 22. This group aims to create a platform for the younger generation to explore entrepreneurship as a sustainable and empowering pathway to economic growth and self-sufficiency.

We also developed Mansaka Heritage Coffee, a social enterprise initiative for our Bagong Utaw Sangka Pag-uya IP Youth Organization. The group hopes to engage more young indigenous peoples in the city and strengthen our cultural advocacy.

Tools and techniques

The tools and techniques taught through the Lead-FBLP fellowship program have been pivotal in my journey as a youth development officer. Because of the program, I was equipped to hold the position and to lead our youth in the city.

My Lead-FBLP fellowship experience has also led to my acceptance as one of the Philippine delegates to the Southeast Asia Next Gen Leaders Program organized by the National University of Singapore-Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Temasek Foundation.

Learning from incredible individuals from Asean countries and Timor Leste has been a privilege that has broadened my horizons.

I am truly humbled by the experiences I have gained. YouthLed changed my life, and I owe it to the Lead-FBLP Fellowship program. Para sa Pilipinas at kabataang Pilipino, I will continue to serve and lead our youth.

Edu Macabatas is one of the Youth Leadership for Democracy (YouthLed) project’s Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) Fellows in 2023 under the Changemakers Track.