Illustrated by Franchezka Cardiño, 17, Multiple Intelligence International School
Kevin Conrad A. Ibasco, 24, is the founder of the Pangasinan Youth Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PYDRRM), a youth-led non-government organization which advocates for disaster risk reduction and management, science, and journalism. The organization helps in disaster communication: posting weather and calamity updates and advisories as well as disaster preparedness and prevention.
Organization: PYDRRM was built from Kevin’s experience of Typhoon Pepeng which devastated his province, Pangasinan. It was that incident that made him realize that correct, timely, and real-time information dissemination can help prevent deaths and that the youth can actually help. Now, the organization is helping other youth leaders to become risk communicators and disaster risk reduction advocates in their own communities. It even conducts its own youth-led hazard mapping, heat index monitoring and information dissemination on tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and other potential calamities. It also helps in disaster preparedness, training youths to be climate crisis leaders.
Fulfilling part: What’s most fulfilling is knowing that we are able to save lives and the recognition of the value of our work. When LGUs and even schools repost our updates, that’s already a win for us because it proves that they trust our content. Inspiring other provinces to start their own youth for DRM orgs.
Vision of Philippines in 2050: In 2050, I see the youth having their voices heard and being trusted to lead their communities. Everyone is well informed and educated about upcoming risks. There will be no false information.
My pledge: I’ll continue to help the youth become more climate and disaster-resilient. I’ll continue my work so more and more young people will learn about the importance and basics of not just disaster preparedness but also prevention, mitigation, rehabilitation, and recovery.
Advice to young people who want to make a difference: Explore your passion and then find people who have the same passion. There are gonna be setbacks like your FB page being hacked or finding ways to engage your members. But if you are truly passionate about what you’re doing, then the hard times won’t really matter much.