THE Quezon City government’s pool of over 5,000 college scholars and 30,000 graduates, under its Scholarship and Youth Development Program (SYDP), will give muscle to its newly framed volunteer arm, the SYDP chief said in a recent interview. The current scholars, especially its graduates in the last 20 years, would give a large mass to the skeletal structure of the Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City said Rogelio L. Reyes, SYDP executive director.
Both the scholars and graduates could be recalled by the SYDP office and enlist them in the Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City with other volunteers. The Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City is the city’s program on economic development, urban planning, and environment, he said.
The volunteers would also be deployed in programs that encourage and raise literacy level among the youth who lack access to educational materials, services and opportunities in depressed areas, Reyes said.
The SYDP has started to recall its graduates to give the Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City manpower, but more were expected to respond during the Linggo ng Kabataan early this month and even at the homecoming this summer, he said.
The city’s volunteer arm was just recently formed following Mayor Herbert Bautista’s signing of Executive Order15 (2014) on September 23, said Vladimir E. Estocado, Quezon City’s Community Affairs Office staff and Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City desk officer.
The programs and activities volunteers undertake should be aligned with Quezon City’s development plan, he said.
With thousands of potential volunteers from the SYDP, the city can tap an immense pool of technical know-how, expertise and experiences to rise above current concerns, like waste management, rehab of rivers and creeks, to name a few, Estocado said.
The SYDP office would “enlist in its pool of expert volunteers,” graduates of different disciplines, Reyes said.
One would be assigned to programs in line with their technical knowledge and skills.
One’s volunteer service in the community would be certified by the SYDP, another government office or any concerned institution, he said.
A volunteer, particularly a teacher who is required to render community service annually, could bank his certifications of services for use as references in seeking job promotion, Reyes said.
The Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City is in line with the SYDP’s policy for its scholars in terms of social responsibility, Reyes said. The scholars are required to render community service every semester.
The city’s volunteer arm would broaden their social responsibility. Enlisted volunteers would be trained and equipped for relief operations in affected communities in Quezon City in times of calamities, Estocado added.
They could also be deployed in areas outside Quezon City damaged by disasters to join humanitarian and rehabilitation efforts the city would deem requiring support, he said.
Reyes sees the creation of the Bayanihang Bayan sa Quezon City timely as it marks its 75th diamond jubilee with year-round activities that began in October this year and closing in the same month in 2015.
Bautista signed the executive order in response to the call of Republic Act 9418, otherwise known as the Volunteer Act of 2007, seeking to encourage, intensify and support the volunteerism of individual citizens and organizations, Estocado said.