CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA7) – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in Region 7 held the first ‘Volunteerism Exhibit’ in the country to highlight volunteerism as a development strategy.
The exhibit was staged to mark the 2024 Regional Development Council (RDC) Week celebration in Central Visayas.
As the lead agency of RDC, NEDA-7 initiated the first exhibit in the country to showcase various volunteer initiatives and activities of government and private institutions.
The exhibit aimed to nurture and reignite the spirit of volunteerism among Filipinos while bringing together the various organizations where people can serve as volunteers.
“No’ng sinurvey ang mga Pilipino, sabi nila, their aspiration is for them to have the opportunity to volunteer,” said NEDA-7 regional director Jennifer C. Bretaña.
(When the Filipinos were surveyed, they said their aspiration is to have the opportunity to volunteer.)
Bretaña is referring to a survey where it showed that Filipinos are looking for avenues to engage in community service.
The NEDA-7 director said there are still several people who do not know where they can volunteer.
“They don’t know how to volunteer. They don’t know kung ano ang mga opportunities na pwede silang mag-volunteer (what opportunities are available for them where they can volunteer),” she added.
“(This is) to showcase the various volunteer initiatives and activities in the region so that the public would know what are the volunteerism initiatives that we have already in the region with the hope that it will influence all of us,” Bretaña explained.
At least nine exhibitors from the government and private sectors showcased their programs and activities that can potentially generate interest among individuals to join their institution as volunteers.
The exhibitors include the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency, Parole and Probation Administration, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Tourism, Red Cross Cebu Chapter, University of the Philippines Cebu, Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, Global Initiative for Exchange and Development Inc., among others.
Contribution to national development
According to a study by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) in 2009, volunteerism has contributed P44.5 billion or 0.6 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the country.
“Volunteerism actually has (an) immense contribution to the economy in a study conducted by the NSCB in 2009… ibig sabihin, kina-quantify nila yung number of hours that you do volunteering,” Bretaña said.
Volunteerism is also aligned with the ‘Matatag na Buhay’, one of the three vision statements embedded in the AmBisyon Natin 2040, the long-term vision and development framework for the Filipino people launched by NEDA which means a strongly rooted life.
“Ang ‘matatag na buhay’ is when they are able to have an opportunity to volunteer, when they are able to spend their time for community service na may’ panahon pa sila mag-community service and to be able to help those who need,” she said.
Bretaña said the RDC-7 has passed Resolution No. 72, series of 2023, enjoining all regional line agencies, local government units (LGUs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs) to institutionalize volunteerism as a strategy for development.
“We encourage our SUCs and LGUs and our regional line agencies to partner with the private sector and the civil society,” said Bretaña.
As a partner agency in the exhibit, PNVSCA executive director Donald James Gawe shared that volunteerism is the embodiment of ‘bayanihan,’ the collective effort of Filipinos to help one another in times of need.
During the panel interview, Therese Erlyn Napuli, 2023 winner of the youth category during the Search for Outstanding Volunteers, shared that through the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, her love for community service has flourished.
“Sometimes, for other people, it’s really the volunteerism that finds them, and they just dipped their toes in it, and end up loving it so much,” Napuli said.
The exhibit also underscored that the immediate avenue where people can volunteer is their respective communities.
“A lot of things can be done by volunteers and the role of the government is to provide and produce an environment for them to volunteer and align what they’re doing to national development,” said PNVSCA chief volunteer service officer Ela Victoria F. Sarmago. (JJT/PIA-7 Cebu)
