Youth Consultations - How was it done in the Philippines?

Young people from across the world have been engaging in our Youth Consultations! Our Youth Consultations are a space for young people to come together, reflect discuss their futures. We want to hear your proposed solutions to transform our area into safer and sustainable spaces, considering topics such as health, environment, human rights, equality, poverty and other issues related to road safety and mobility. What issues do you face on the road? What could make your journeys safer? What needs to change?

Young people from The Philippines recently completed a Youth Consultation using the simple Step-by-Step Guide. We caught up with consultation leader Maolin Macatangay to get insight into how the consultation was set up and what made it successful.

Where did you conduct your Youth Consultation?  
The youth consultations were conducted at the the Triumph College Yearbook Office at the Ateneo de Naga University, Naga City, Philippines.

Where did you find your participants?
I had a brief meeting with the moderator (Joie Villanea) of the Triumph College Yearbook and asked if her students would want to participate in a youth consultation. After discussing what the goal of the consultation was, Ms. Villanea and six (6) of her students joined the consultation.

How did you bring them together?
Because they were all working under one institution, it was easy to bring the students together. The consultations were conducted during a break period so none of the student’s classes were sacrificed.

What were the major issues identified by the group?
The students identified issues about facilities that made them feel safe and unsafe. Majority of the students felt safe in areas where little to no vehicles passed by. They felt safe in areas like their own neighborhoods where they could walk freely.

They acknowledged the importance of traffic facilities like street lights, traffic lights, stop signs, pedestrian lanes, and loading and unloading signs in their areas. They noted how anxious they felt when street lights and traffic lights were faulty.

The participants also shared the woes they experience during their daily commutes. The students shared how they would often ride overloaded vehicles like jeepneys and buses because, as they remark, the drivers and conductors want to make additional profit. Riding overloaded public utility vehicles is not comfortable.

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What were the solutions identified?
The solutions that the groups identified applied principles from the safe systems approach. They pointed out that solutions do not only come from one sector.

According to the participants; road users should abide by the laws, law and traffic enforcers need to be stricter and consistent with implementing transportation laws, public utility vehicle drivers and operators must ensure the comfort and safety of the commuters, the local government unit needs to fix faulty traffic lights and other road signs, and the Land Transportation Office need to be more careful of who they allow to drive.

What went well?  
The participants showed a good level of knowledge when it comes to road safety in their areas. They were able to identify significant problems that needed to be addressed as well as doable solutions that could help abate the problem they experience when it comes to road safety and public transport.
 
What was the youth’s commitment to safe mobility?
The group made a commitment that was easy to implement; that the participants of the youth consultations will follow the land transportation laws set in place by the national and local government units.

What tangible actions could be done toward the achievement of this goal?
The participants will do simple things like making sure not to jay walk, follow proper loading and unloading zones, wear seatbelts, wear helmets, and even look both ways before crossing the streets.

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Top tips for other young people wanting to conduct youth consultations?
Be very conversational about how you go about the consultation. I found that the discussion flowed smoothly ones the students felt at ease with me. They saw me as a friend and that made for a very conducive environment exchange ideas and opinions on road safety.

Any final words about the consultation? Did you enjoy it?
It was a lot of fun. I learned so much from the students and was so surprised about how observant they were when it came to transportation and road safety. I really enjoyed it.