Youths Present Vision, Solutions for Sustainable Quezon City by 2030

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Hosted by WWF-Philippines’ National Youth Ambassador, Robi Domingo, “QC 2030: Youth’s Vision and Solutions for the Future” convened representatives of the Quezon City local government and youth participants of the “Our City 2030: Youth Visions and Solutions” project to discuss sustainable solutions for the future of the most populated city of the country. Photograph © WWF-Philippines

Public high school students, Alternative Learning System (ALS) learners, and representatives from the local government, various businesses and civil society organizations (CSOs), gathered virtually on the 5th of February as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Philippines and Plan International Philippines hold an event to showcase youth’s vision and solutions for Quezon City’s sustainable development.

The event, titled ‘QC 2030: Youth’s Vision and Solutions for the Future’ also served as the culminating activity of the “Our City 2030: Youth Vision and Solutions” project, a three year initiative in partnership with the local government of Quezon City and Schools Division Office. Launched in January 2018, Our City 2030 is a collaboration between WWF-Sweden and Plan International Sweden and simultaneously implemented together with three East African countries namely Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. The project provided a platform for the youth to be engaged in urban development of their home cities by creating roadmaps towards 1.5C trajectories including mitigation and adaptation solutions on sustainable planning. 

Attended by more than 200 registered participants, the online event was hosted by WWF-Philippines National Youth Ambassador Robi Domingo and officially began with opening remarks from WWF-Philippines Executive Director Katherine Custodio and PLAN International Country Director Ana Maria Locsin.

WWF-Philippines, Our City 2030 Project Manager, Imee Bellen shared processes and results of the project since its inception, highlighting the array of key outcomes in the engagements of selected high school students, ALS learners, teachers including SPED educators, parents, youth leaders and city officials. This was followed by a discussion on the role of youth and education with Plan International Philippines Project Coordinator Marie Kristy Amador emphasizing the importance of leadership as an invaluable aspect of young people in terms of their capacity to assist the community and city like in disaster risk reduction management. Thereafter, the WWF-Philippines Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Program Manager, Dino Calderon held a short presentation amplifying the role education towards sustainability through the new learning concept that develop skills, knowledge, attitudes, values and action competencies.

A short visual presentation allowed few student facilitators of the “Our City 2030” project to share their learnings and experiences in their participation to the project as well as the enhanced vision statement of these youth for Quezon City by 2030 that put more details on transportation, health, socio-economy, education, security and leadership sectors.

Days before the culminating activity, a total of seven solutions developed by the youth were exhibited online for public voting of their top three solutions. These most voted youth ideas are: (1) An online news app called QuteC, which aims to make current events digestible for the youth while filtering out fake news; (2) a clean up drive and workshop titled Clean, Clean, Clean, that aimed to streamline regular cleanup activities; and the (3) Commuter’s Haven, a proposal for redesigned bus and PUV stops that are well-kept, prioritize safety and are made from recycled materials. Presentations of these top three solutions were done by the student representatives from Judge Feliciano and Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma High School, respectively.

A panel of Quezon City officials were invited for a live dialogue with the student presenters. Present were Councilor Dorothy Delarmente, Education Affairs Unit Head, Ally Medalla, EPWMD Head Andrea Villaroman, Youth Development Office Head, Maricris Laureta as well as Dr. Maria Teresa Namoro, Chief of Schools Governance and Operations Division of Quezon City Schools Division Office. Students impressed the panel with their developed solutions while also responding to the clarifications raised by each panel member. They were also able to express their sentiments on the need of support from the city government to further enhance their ideas and realistically achieve the goal of their innovations.

“I had a great time with my group mates and my batch mates when we thought of our solution [based] from the vision and roadmaps of our batch--we were able to get along as we were the same age and had similar ideas. During the presentation, we were really nervous that the panelists might ask us difficult questions but we managed to get through it because of our unity as a team”, said Daniella Arca, a Grade 9 student from Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma High School and one of the student presenters.

With the solutions of the participating youths of the Our City 2030 project now presented, the role now falls on the local government to consider and incorporate them into their city plans. Words of support were offered by the Quezon City government through Councilor Delarmente and Quezon City SDO Superintendent Dr. Jennilyn Rose Corpuz, CESO VI.

“We hope to mitigate the impacts of climate change through the power of the youth. This project aims to contribute to the creation of climate smart and sustainable cities. We recognize the need to provide young people with more platforms to participate in the process of climate change,” shared Quezon City District I Councilor Hon. Dorothy Delarmente, on behalf of Quezon City Mayor Hon. Joy Belmonte.

“I am fascinated by the level of collaboration of the stakeholders in this program from different sectors, from the local government to the learning institutions and even individuals who are education advocates. As they say, there is strength in numbers, and as the number continues to grow, so too does the push towards achieving the goal of education on sustainable development through the city,” added Dr. Corpuz.

To cap off the event, an award ceremony was held to recognize the Top 3 Most Innovative Solutions and to also appreciate the unwavering support of the local government and academic partners of the “Our City 2030” project from June 2018 until February 2021. Closing messages followed after from WWF-Philippines’ Head of Climate and Energy Programme Atty. Angela Ibay, EPWMD Head Andrea Villaroman, and QC-SDO Dr. Maria Teresa Namoro, thanking everyone involved in the project and emphasizing the role of the youth in the journey towards sustainability.

Future city planning will need to consider sustainability as the effects of climate change continue to take their toll. As the Philippines moves into the future, the youth are prepared to meet the environmental challenges that face the places that they call home. Support WWF-Philippines, and help build a fair and sustainable future for all.

Online sexual abuse of children rising amid COVID-19 pandemic

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Save the Children Philippines has raised concern that more children are at risk from online sexual abuse and exploitation amid the COVID-19 pandemic as families resort to easy money due to deepening poverty, while children are still not allowed to leave homes.

With the theme "Bagong Normal: Ligtas na Internet for All,” the annual Safer Internet Day for Children in the Philippines calls on public and private stakeholders to join the campaign in making the internet a safer and better place for all, especially for children and young people.

Atty. Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines, said the pandemic is no longer a health crisis but a child rights crisis that must be addressed with urgency.

“Online sexual abuse and exploitation of children is a silent pandemic that has permanent, and devastating effects on children’s mental health and psychosocial well-being,” said Muyot.

He called on the local government units, schools, and communities to strengthen the protective and legal services to ensure that children are safe from online sexual abuse and exploitation.

Cases of OSAEC in the Philippines increased by 264.6 percent or 202,605 more reports during the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine from March to May 2020, compared to the 76,561 cases during the same period in 2019, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), citing data from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Save the Children Philippines supports Malacañang’s call to strengthen the campaign against OSAEC by monitoring the strict implementation of Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

The child rights organization is joining the month-long campaign activities at the National Capital Region and Mindanao to raise awareness on protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Wilma Banaga, Child Protection Advisor of Save the Children Philippines, said that parents, guardians and other relatives must understand that they have the responsibility to meet the needs of children, and to protect them from any form of abuse and exploitation.

“Parents and other adults who are taking care of children should provide the necessary support and guidance to help protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation particularly now that they are increasingly going online because of the pandemic,” said Banaga.

Save the Children Philippines is a member of SaferKidsPH, an Australian government initiative to reduce the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines, being implemented along with The Asia Foundation and UNICEF. SaferKidsPH works with children and their families, the Philippine government, civil society and the private sector to ensure that children are safe and protected online.

Philinsure To Push Digitalisation Efforts; Protecting Filipinos Amidst COVID-19

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Singapore-headquartered Insurtech, Igloo, today announced an official partnership with Philippines-based insurance broker Philpacific Insurance Brokers Inc. (Philinsure). This partnership kicks off with the digitization of Philinsure’s insurance products offering accessible and affordable insurance to Filipinos in the country to support their need for security and protection. As the partnership evolves, Igloo and Philinsure will be providing more insurance products to better protect the families in the Philippines.



Mr Raunak Mehta, Chief Commercial Officer of Igloo, said, “This pandemic brought about an urgent need for traditional industries to tap technology, and this is especially evident in the insurance sector in the Philippines. This partnership with Philinsure aims to support a very important sector in the Philippines, such as small business owners whose work have a very real and immediate impact on their communities. We want to be able to provide them with affordable and relevant protection to give them the confidence to focus on their business and their livelihood.”



With a digital insurance penetration of less than 1 per cent, the availability of insurance protection in the Philippines is largely offline which limits their reach, especially in these days of the pandemic. Igloo sees a lot of potential in driving this digitally to provide highly customized and relevant solutions to the consumers in the most accessible, scalable, and affordable manner. Leveraging its technological capabilities, Igloo is able to deliver operational efficiencies and lower costs for its insurance partners, and provide value-adding products to the customer base of its distribution partners.



Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph, CEO of Philinsure, shared, “We are excited to be working with Igloo as part of our effort to better drive our CSR advocacy to serve Filipino families, wherever they are in the Philippines or in the world. We also see that working with Igloo will help us achieve greater efficiencies in our post-pandemic digitization program. We look forward to working with Igloo to widen our CSR advocacy through its digital platform that is capable of providing a simple, effective means of protecting and therefore empowering the Filipino Family."



According to UNDP Philippines, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) comprise 99.5 per cent of the nation’s business establishment, employing approximately 63 per cent of the country’s workforce. Igloo’s partnership with Philinsure is part of Igloo’s larger mission to provide affordable insurance to the masses.



The partnership seeks to strengthen Igloo’s foothold in the Philippines market as it expands the variety of verticals it serves from on-demand customer platforms to banks, fintech, and logistics firms. Since its entry into the Philippines with its collaboration with Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest-growing hotel management and booking platform, RedDoorz in 2019, Igloo has also partnered with the UnionBank of the Philippines in August last year. The insurtech has also widened its insurance partner base to include Mercantile, Pioneer, PGA-Sompo Insurance Corporation, and United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation.



Igloo looks to evolve its product offering by investing in the development of new products to cater and fit the ever-changing market needs. Apart from these existing products, Igloo aims to work with partners to launch new policies such as home, business, internet security, pet insurance, and those focused on single diseases such as dengue and COVID-19. With these plans in mind, the team looks to hire more people in their Philippines office as it expects the number of policies sold via its platform in the Philippines to grow 4x this year. The company is also looking for strategic investors for their upcoming funding round, which is expected to close by Q1 2021.



Igloo, founded by Mr Wei Zhu in June 2016 to provide affordable insurance for everyone, is a full-stack insurtech firm, employs big data, dynamic risk assessment, and expedited claims management, to provide partners with widened distribution networks and allows consumers access to customized insurance solutions. To date, Igloo has sold over 100 million policies in Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia