Mega Cebu project: USJ-R studes showcase youth’s role in progress

CEBU, Philippines - Young and idealistic as they are, students of the University of San Jose – Recoletos (USJ-R) firmly believed that there should be a balance between urbanization and preservation of the environment in order to achieve progress, emphasizing the significant role that the youth can contribute towards the sustainable development of Cebu.

To involve the youth and the academe, stakeholders of the Mega Cebu project recently organized a video making contest among universities and colleges in Metro Cebu.

The Mega Cebu 2050 development strategy is envisioned towards a vibrant, equitable, sustainable and competitive environment that embraces Cebu’s creativity and its cultural, historical and natural resources, with strong citizen participation and responsive governance.

Each participating school are required to send a minimum of two entries and a maximum of six. The first two entries must be based on the Mega Cebu attributes assigned to each group via draw by lot system.

The deadline for the submission of entries was extended last June 22 and winners were proclaimed last June 25 at Ayala Center Cebu. The criteria included creativity and originality, clarity of message, viewers’ appeal, and overall presentation.

Out of its six entries, the University of San Carlos bagged four awards for the categories in cultural and historic, innovative, creative and competitive, inclusive, equitable and liveable, and integrated, coordinated and participative while the University of the Philippines – Cebu won the best entry for the interconnected and compact attribute.

USJ-R, on the other hand, was proclaimed as the winner for the best entry in the green category and was declared as the awardee for the viewers’ choice as a special award for getting the highest number of likes in their video entries.

Their first entry for the innovative, creative and competitive category earned 2,177 likes. It is futuristic-themed video of pre-school students from Gawad Kalinga in Mananga, Talisay City in traditional schooling at present followed by a vision of college students in advanced educational system in the future.

Meanwhile, the entry for the green attribute comparative which is a split-screen video showing the comparison of good and bad environmental practices gained 2,165 likes.

The winning entries were products of collaboration between two different colleges of USJ-R, the College of Commerce and College of Arts and Sciences. Members of the Josenian team involved students taking up Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Marketing Management and Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. They are Jenny Mae Rellon, Samona Garzota, Mechelle Florita, Aubry Lerio, Niño Justin Tecson and Nimrod Shem Aro.

Towards a better Cebu

In an interview with The FREEMAN, Rellon admitted that the Mega Cebu 2050 vision seemed too idealistic for the youth’s perspective since it involves a long-term plan. However, she said that the group realized the purpose of the project in order to have a better Cebu in the years ahead.

She noted that progress in a particular city is not based on how many skyscrapers one can find in the area. She added that a city could actually achieve growth and development by both coping with industrialization and maintaining the beauty of nature.

“When you start to think of innovation, also think of the environment. Aiming for success is good but in the end, who’s to be blamed? It is not the people at present who will suffer, it is the next generations ahead of us who will,” she said.

Rellon shared that since she and Garzota are business administration students, they decided to seek help from the mass communication students who had a background on film production. They had one night of brainstorming and three days of preparation. They used their own resources and played as actors themselves.

Florita emphasized the need for balance between urbanization and preservation of the environment, saying that the former does not imply the deterioration of the latter.

Florita who lives in downtown Cebu said that she is a bare witness of the urbanized lifestyle in the city.  She particularly cited that amid the real estate boom, the public should continue to plant trees.  She added that proper zoning and effective drainage system should also be observed to avoid floods from the uphill barangays to lowlands.

She said that the youth could actually help the society by carrying out environment-friendly practices and exploiting the social media to promote awareness to the public.

“We may be still in school but we can actually contribute to the sustainable development of Cebu. Yes, we have all these ideas but what we lack is the execution,” she stated.

The Josenian team remained optimistic that the Mega Cebu 2050 plan will come to realization and expressed willingness to cooperate with the government and private sector towards the accomplishment of the project.

They received a total of P22,000 cash prize, plaques and three medals. The group expressed gratitude to the support extended by the Department of Communications, Languages and Literature, College of Arts and Sciences, Junior Entrepreneurs and Marketers Society, College of Commerce and Student Affairs Office.

Socially-conscious youth

USJ-R College of Commerce Dean Dr. Edgar Detoya lauded the creativity and innovation showed by the Josenian team during the Mega Cebu video-making competition. He pointed out that the youth at present has evolved to become socially-conscious on environmental issues and concerns.

He said that both the public and private sectors could benefit from the innovative ideas of the young generation and incorporate them in their plans for a better Cebu.

He said that responsible urbanization is actually doable for Cebu, adding that it is possible to meet the demands of the present without compromising the needs of the future generation.

“We can urbanize in such a way that it is not detrimental to the environment. That is sustainable development. If other countries can make it, why can’t we? We just need to have that discipline,” he said.

In response to the timely call for environmental conservation, USJ-R implemented the Win on Waste (WOW) program, a self-sustaining project that aims to make Josenians engage in resource conservation, ecological care and protection, and waste management. /JOB (FREEMAN)