Ahead of the two-day visit by Vice President Leni Robredo to Negros Occidental, a youth group there on Thursday, November 4, unveiled their youth agenda and expressed their support for the presidential aspirant.

Negros Youth for Leni (NY4L), which is composed of 25 youth organizations, sent the youth agenda to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for Robredo’s perusal.

They want the next administration to focus on the country’s “education crisis,” public health, mental health, jobs and livelihood, gender equality, climate change, and participation in governance.

Entitled “Mga Handum sang Pamatan-on sang Negros” or “Ang Mga Mithiin ng Kabataan ng Negros,” the four-page document affirmed the group’s support for Robredo, saying that she didn’t leave them behind amid the pandemic and natural calamities.

READ: Local support for Robredo swells

“Hindi tayo pinabayaan ni Bise Presidente Leni Robredo. Pinadama niya ang kalinga, pag-aruga na kailangan natin noong tayo inabandona ng mga nasa kapangyarihan. Pinadama niya na posible ang paghilom at pagbangon (Vice President Leni Robredo did not leave us behind. She made us feel the care that we needed when those in power abandoned us. She made us feel that healing and rising are possible),” the manifesto read.

Aside from the pandemic, heavy rain caused flash floods that submerged Negros Occidental in January and September this year, displacing over 70,000 people.

“Sa pagninilay, pagsaksi, at paghugot ng Kabataan ng Negros kasama ang mga batayang sektor, natutunan natin na si Bise Presidente Leni Robredo ang siyang nakakaunawa sa mga dinadaing na sakit ng taumbayan at siyang sasama sa taumbayan sa paggamot at paghilom (Through meditating, witnessing, and drawing by the Kabataan ng Negros with different sectors, we learned that Vice President Leni Robredo is the only one who understands the sacrifices of the people and she will be one with the people in healing),” the group said.

To come up with the agenda, NY4L consulted 10 youth sub-sectors about the issues faced by youth in different parts of the province. The aforementioned sub-sectors were young women, young farmers and fisherfolks, young LGBTQ+, students, children, among others.

READ: PH needs youth to build a better normal—Robredo

“We believe in VP Leni’s capacity to address the problems faced by Negros youth,” said Christian Luis Morales, head of Secretariat Team for Negros Youth for Leni,” Christian Luis Morales, head of Secretariat Team for Negros Youth for Leni, said in a statement.

​“Putting together then amplifying the agenda of the youth is very important in ensuring that we are shaping the kind of Philippines that we rightfully deserve as citizens and as human beings,” Dr. Richelle Verdeprado, youth leader and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Sowing Legacy Movement Inc., added.

She added that the “most sustainable way of total human development” is when leaders “value the voices and dreams of the youth.”

Robredo will be in Negros Occidental from Nov. 5 to 6. She is expected to meet and greet her supporters during a reception that will be held in her honor.

There will be a people’s assembly and consultation with the Vice President on Friday, followed by her attendance at the launch of the Lugaw Party and the blessing and inauguration of the Leni-Kiko Negros.