Umingan Held Youth Leadership Summit

A Youth Leadership Summit dubbed Umingan Youth Forum ’09 was held last October 23-25, 2009 at the Umingan Central Elementary School. With the theme "Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow", the YLS is a three-day live-in training program organized and conducted by the 71^st Infantry (Kaibigan) Battalion of the Philippine Army under Col Melquiades Feliciano INF (GSC). It was attended by a total of 88 youth coming from high school and college levels including out of school youths. The YLS (Youth Leadership Summit) is specially designed towards enhancing leadership and interrelations skills, and advocacy for patriotism and moral uprightness of youth leaders. Specifically, it hopes to develop God-fearing, morally upright, disciplined and socially responsible youth leaders who promote peace and development with a great sense of patriotism; and to protect the youth against exploitation of unlawful organizations that destroy democracy and the duly constituted government. The training modules include activities that help the participants develop teamwork and camaraderie; keep the youth aware of deceptive and manipulative recruitment of illegal and subversive organizations; introduce to the youth their roles and responsibilities in nation-building; and prepare them in to be able to help mold the future of their own communities. The YLS was made possible through the coordination of 71^st Infantry (Kaibigan) Battalion of the Philippine Army, 7^th Civil Military Operations Battalion, Philippine National Police, Department of Education and the Local Government of Umingan.