ACEIPI Youth Benefit from JCI’s “Gabay Aral”

   As key participants of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Manila’s Project Gabay Aral, 34 Y4Y youth  from Advocates for Children and Elders International Philippines Inc. (ACE IPI) attended a two-day seminar with a theme “Gabay Aral: Together We Can Make A Difference” held on the 7th and 14th of May 2016 at JCI Manila Clubhouse, Manila.

   The first day of Project Gabay Aral included a values formation, an inspirational talk, and a seminar on Varguard Leadership, while the second day was comprised of an English Proficiency session, a motivational talk and a Public Speaking workshop. Shirts were also distributed to these high school and college students during the first day to signify their participation.

   The event was then introduced by the Project Chairman, Baby Jaycee Carmelo Navarro. Other Baby Jaycees namely Glenn Ong, Santino Santiago, Carlo Chua, Marc Jansen Siy, Brixton Aw and JCI Director Marvin Navarro assisted the youth throughout the sessions.

JCI Manila President Ramiro N. Villavicencio and ACE IPI President Virginia M. Bruce led the opening remarks.


Each speaker received a certificate of appreciation and a special gift from JCI Manila.

JCI Manila has given 34 ACE IPI Y4Y members certificates of attendance. In turn, ACE IPI expressed its deep gratitude by awarding certificates of appreciation to JCI President Ramiro N. Villavicencio, JCI Executive Vice President Joaquin Pablo A. Esquivias, Director Marvin Navarro, Director Jeremy Clemente, and six Baby JCI members.


   Bro. Philip Sumera spearheaded the values formation which tackled about the importance of faith in God and of prayer in facing challenges in life. He encouraged everyone to practice having a grateful heart despite all the personal struggles.  He also reminded everyone that Jesus will not give unsurpassable problems, and that prayer is the best equipment against all the adversities in life. He even shared a story of a man who had gone through tough challenges such as addiction to various vices. In the end he revealed that it was his personal story.

   He ended his talk by leaving a bible verse which says, “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”




    Even with his difficulty in speaking caused by stage 4 cancer which he had survived, former Alaska Coach Bobby Lotuaco shared to the youth how to achieve a heart of a champion. For him, one must first dream to be able to establish goal which one will keep on aiming.

    Moreover, he added that one must also observe perseverance, work ethics and right attitude. For him, dreams will only come true if one will strive for it. He imparted important life lessons through sharing his personal experience including his journey as coach and his battle against cancer.

As a closing remark, he said that to be a champion in life, one must learn how to stand again in spite of countless times of falling into puddles of disappointments and challenges in life.




    Mr. Jeremy Clemente headed the Vanguard Leadership seminar and started it by grouping the Y4Y youth into three for them to brainstorm and create their group name and jingle, and to also choose among them their leader. Feedbacks were given after all the presentations according to coordination and leadership reflected on their performance.

    Thereafter, Bro. Jeremy proceeded to the course provided for discussion. According to him, leadership is the ability to influence other people toward the attainment of goals and to persuade people to embrace one’s idea. He then discussed the difference between transactional and transformational leadership and the bare essentials of leadership.


    Right after, there was an assessment of leadership background conducted to identify one’s leadership preference. The discussion was then continued which covered topics such as traits of a vanguard leader, types of leadership styles, and lastly, a vanguard leader’s character.

Each group conceptualizes their performance as the leadership training’s initial task, and eventually performs in front.


   Recognizing that English proficiency is a competitive edge, an English Proficiency session was conducted and facilitated by Mr. Glenn Ong. He also requested everyone to use English as medium of communication throughout the session. According to him, one simple reason is that English is the universal language.

    Basic of English language was discussed such as parts of speech namely nouns, pronouns, verbs, etc. and basic rules of language or grammar. After the discussion, there was an activity to determine if the youth learned something.


   With his motivation to inspire and encourage, Mr. Joshua Benzi Yang talked about his practical knowledge about overcoming adversities. As an athlete who bagged several awards from his swimming competitions, he shared some of the adversities he has faced and how he fought his way through.

   According to him, what kept him going was that instead of asking “Lord, why me?”, he always said “Lord, try me.” He emphasized important principles such as to strive in order to earn the best days of your life, to be reminded that good things draw us closer to God, to turn depression into motivation, to always have faith in God and oneself as well, and to show your worth and not let anyone drag you down. He encouraged everyone to be SMART or be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable and Time wise. He also said that the true meaning of FAIL is the First Attempt In Life.


    He ended his talk by sharing his favorite quotation which came from Kobe Bryant saying, “Everything negative, pressure, challenges, they are all opportunities for me to rise.” and a bible verse which is Proverbs 19:21 saying “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”





   To help improve the communication skills of the participants, a workshop on public speaking was headed by Mr. Archie Inlong or simply Kuya Archie.

    According to him, there are three things one needs do in a workshop: makiisa (to participate), magbahagi (to share), and magtanong (to ask). He started with an activity wherein each one has to look for a partner and reintroduce oneself. He also taught them an affirmative applause to express a compliment towards someone. He then discussed the goals of public speaking (to inform and to inspire) and the secret of an effective speech (audience looks at the speaker with eyes wide open). He also emphasized that one must organize his/her thoughts and ideas before sharing it to the crowd, and to connect with the audience to avoid boredom and disinterest.

    Lastly, he taught them the Power of Three – Tindig (to observe proper posture), Tinig (to maintain an audible and lively voice) and Titig (to connect to the audience through eye contact) which are essential to become a new born professional public speaker.