SP Highlights: For the next generation

The sustained improvement of the City of Naga rests upon the betterment of the stature and condition of the youth. Harnessing their ingenuity, ensuring their safety and developing their utmost capability must be prioritized if we are indeed serious in our efforts to the make the best better for our Maogmang Lugar. We are, therefore, glad that in the last regular session last May 9, 2017, the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, together with its city youth counterparts, were able to enact two legislative measures that can help address the needs of the next generation. One of this is Ordinance No. 2016-024 which mandates the withdrawal from public servitude the Kinastilyuhan Street on May 22-26, 2017 to give way for the Youth Expo 2017. Youth Expo 2017 is a weeklong trade-fair that will showcase the youth’s entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. Products of young Nagueño businessmen will be displayed in the booths to be put up on Kinastilyuhan Street. It will also make us see a glimpse of how the next generation perceives the demands of their ever-evolving society and how they seek to cope up with and address the same. Meanwhile, the second legislation that will affect the lives of the new breed of Nagueños is the ordinance that categorically expresses our exercise of the government’s power of eminent domain over a two-hectare property owned by Mercedes Abella, et. al. The said lot shall be expropriated for the city’s socialized housing project and shall be utilized in responding to the needs of the urban poor in Naga, particularly those of the children and dependents of the thousands of applicants asking for help at the Housing Settlement and Development Office (HSDO). Providing security of land tenure to the poorest of the poor of the city is not only a means to alleviate poverty, but is also a way to avert possible sociological ills. Living in slums and, more so, the experience of being ejected from one’s home have negative effects on the cognitive development of a child. Further, studies show that households without permanent homes are more likely to separate or be broken, which then further exposes the next generation to risks in emotional and psychological aspects. Naga City is not endowed with valuable minerals, huge land size, or even strategic location. But it has been named as the Queen City of Bicol thanks to its industrious and responsible sons and daughters who have unselfishly dedicated their industry, intelligence and resources. Thus, cliché as it may sound, but Naga’s hope to maintain such prosperity and prominence lies on the future generation – the youth. It is, therefore, our responsibility not to shun from providing the youth the most conducive environment for them to learn and cultivate their skills and aptitudes.