26/09/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. BAROTAC NUEVO, Iloilo โ Senator Risa Hontiveros will sit down with young leaders of the Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology (ISUFST) for a conversation on womenโs rights, youth leadership, and community action. She will keynote the Youth Forum on Leadership and Local Action on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the ISUFST Main CampusโTiwi Site.
With the theme โYoung Voices, Equal Futures: Women and Youth Leading the SDGs in Our Communities,โ the forum begins at 1 p.m. and will bring together around 700 invited students from ISUFST, along with university officials and youth leaders. The afternoon will focus on how young people can turn the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into meaningful action in the communities they call home.
Hontiveros will deliver the keynote address entitled, โEqual Futures Begin Locally: Womenโs Rights, Youth Leadership, and the SDGs.โ An open forum will follow, moderated by college professors, Dr. Herman Lagon and Dr. Jomel Quintivano, giving participants an opportunity to engage the senator on issues connected with the forum theme.
Hontiveros has a mix of expertise that is well-suited for a talk with emerging leaders. She has worked in media, built with communities, fought for peace, and spent years in the legislature. She served as Akbayanโs party-list representative in the House from 2004 to 2010 and senator in 2016, and was re-elected in 2022. Her legislation has taken on the issues that affect peopleโs daily lives โ from mental health and maternity leave, to safer public spaces, assistance for solo parents and improved protections for children against online sexual abuse and exploitation.
Hontiveros was a community organizer and broadcast journalist before entering the national legislature. She graduated cm laude from Ateneo de Manila University with a bachelorโs degree in Social Sciences She got the Ten Outstanding Young Men Award for Peace and Advocacy in 2001 and was included among Filipino women in the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize project in 2005 for her peace activities.
Beyond the keynote and open forum, the ISUFST activity will turn the conversation toward the experiences of young people themselves through a Panel Interview with Youth Leaders.
Joining the panel are Amira Benguan, a summa cm laude alumna of ISUFST Main CampusโPoblacion Site, regional qualifier in the Search for the Ten Most Outstanding Students of the Philippines, former editor-in-chief of The Currents, and participant in the Student Internship Abroad Program (SIAP) in Regent Hotel, Taiwan; and Jared Dementeverde, president of the University Student Council of ISUFST Di**le Campus and ISUFST representative to the 4th International Student Leaders Meeting on Sustainability at Universiti Sains Malaysia and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan.
The program will open with Pagpanagabi-abi by the Ki-ay Dance Troupe under Dr. Fratzie Inayan, followed by the prayer, Philippine National Anthem, and ISUFST Hymn. Dr. Jezreel C. Donguila and Instructor Nazel D. Aragones, together with the Ki-ay Dance Troupe, will lead portions of the opening program.
Dr. Stephen Raymund T. Jinon, Vice President for Academic Affairs, will deliver the welcome message, while University President Dr. Nordy D. Siason Jr., CESO VI will introduce the keynote speaker.
Following the panel interview, Dr. Jescel Bito-onon, Vice President for Administration and Finance, will lead the awarding of certificates and deliver the closing remarks. Prof. Valyn V. Dayandayan-Maestre will serve as emcee.
The forum is expected to go beyond the SDGs. It hopes to bring the conversation to where young people live, study and serve โ places where questions of fairness, opportunity, participation and leadership are felt every day.
The September 26 gathering seeks to make big development goals more personal and practical, with a national policymaker listening and talking directly with students, and young leaders sharing their own experiences: What can young people do today, in their own communities, to help create a more equal and sustainable future? (Herman Lagon | PAMMCO)
The CLARION The Sea Treasure The Blaze-ISUFST DC The Igang Publication Golden Grains- Iloilo State University of Fisheries, Science and Technology ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ISUFST Federated University Student Council ISUFST Main - Tiwi University Student Council University Student Council - Isufst Main Campus - Poblacion Site
