Pangilinan says NYC’s split with TAYO Awards Foundation is ‘divisive’
Senator Kiko Pangilinan said on Friday that the move of the National Youth Commission (NYC) to end its support for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards Foundation Inc. was “divisive.”
NYC officer-in-charge Ronald Gian Cardema announced the cutting of ties during a Palace briefing on Thursday.
Cardema who was chairman of the “Duterte Youth” group said the NYC would instead divert the government’s P1.7-million contribution to the commission to another youth awards event that would be named after President Rodrigo Duterte.
The foundation organizes “The Search for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations of the Philippines” in partnership with the NYC and the office of Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV.
READ: National Youth Commission cuts ties with TAYO Awards Foundation
“Instead of banding together to provide for better opportunities and recognize the efforts of young Filipinos, the decision is divisive,” Pangilinan said in a statement.
“One even has to wonder how the NYC arrived at this decision — if there was some politics involved,” the senator lamented.
While the decision to cut ties with TAYO Awards was a “setback” for the Filipino youth, Pangilinan said the move would “not hinder their efforts at making a difference in their communities nationwide.”
“The youth will always be an inexhaustible source of energy, dynamism, and idealism,” Pangilinan said.
“This decision may temporarily affect our efforts at youth empowerment but the youth will overcome — they always have regardless of who sits in government,” he said.
Pangilinan noted that the NYC has been part of the TAYO Awards since the foundation’s kick off in 2002.
“The commission’s contributions have ensured that more youth organizations are able to participate and partake of the learnings that the foundation provides,” Pangilinan said.
“For 15 years, TAYO was above politics and the focus was on ensuring unity and cooperation directed at youth involvement,” the senator said. /muf
