Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said that while the youth is deemed as the hope of the future, their roles and contributions in the present time are more crucial.
“You are the future of the province but we don’t only want you in the future. We want you now,” Defensor said during the opening program of the Linggo ng Kabataan 2023 on August 10 at the Capitol lobby.
Defensor said the provincial government wants to involve the youth in its mainstream programs, particularly in agriculture and entrepreneurship.
The 4th Entrepreneur is a brainchild of Governor Defensor which aims to gather young Ilonggo businessmen and develop within them an entrepreneurial mindset.
“We have the MSMEs. And the fourth entrepreneur is you. We want you to be involved in entrepreneurship and business,” he said.
The governor also encouraged them to engage in agriculture and become young farmers. Defensor said the provincial government is in full support of the youth sector and he is looking forward to future collaboration with the young people.
Meanwhile, Gov. Defensor took the opportunity to present to the youth the province’s new slogan “Fun, Foodie, Friendly Iloilo.”
Gov. Defensor said “Fun, Foodie, Friendly Iloilo” is the best representation of Iloilo province and its people.
“We want this to be the mantra of our tourism industry under MoRProGRes Iloilo or Movement for a Robust, Progressive, Globally-competitive, and Resilient Province of Iloilo,” Defensor said.
“MoRProGRes Iloilo is our whole province approach to development and progress of the province and city of Iloilo and the strongest and largest part of this movement is you… We want to engage our youth under MoRProGRes Iloilo, we want you to own this movement,” Defensor added.
Sangguniang Kabataan Provincial Federation president and ex-officio Board Member Bianca Requinto-Espinosa led the opening program which was also graced by Board Member Jason Gonzales, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Iloilo provincial director Carmelo Orbista and National Youth Commission (NYC) Visayas Area Officer Krezyl Joyce Jardeleza.
(Capitol News)