Philippine Model Congress

This year, we’re redefining the role of the Filipino Youth. On September 13 & 14, the Senate Building will open its doors to 400 high school and college student leaders from all over the country for the Philippine Model Congress (PMC) 2014. Participants will simulate congressional debates, engage in workshops and learn from transformative guest speakers. The conference hopes to give students the opportunity to tell congress what matters to them. Bills passed will be presented to the actual Philippine Senate and House of Representatives. In doing so, PMC aims to: 1. Give the youth an opportunity to be heard by our country’s leaders. 2. Increase awareness on national issues. 3. Create a community of young people committed to nation-building. Modeled after conferences hosted by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other international universities, the Philippine Model Congress is a collaborative effort by Filipino college students from various universities, and has earned the accreditation and sponsorship of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The inaugural PMC was started in 2012 by Leandro Leviste, Lance Katigbak, Tricia Peralta, Thomas Rosal, and Alonzo Virata. In 2013, Raffy Tanpho joined the Executive Board. This year, Sean Angsanto and Angelo Santiago, two students from De La Salle University, will be taking over with their organizing team to organize the conference. Last year, over 500 youth leaders from 69 of 81 provinces attended PMC to listen to Senators Bam Aquino and Sonny Angara, NYC Chairperson Leon Flores, Kabataan Partylist Representative Terry Ridon, and SGV Chairman Washington Sycip. This year, PMC’s program has been revamped to enable more and longer break-out sessions to give you more opportunities to discuss the issues you’re passionate about. We’re also creating a stronger network for delegates in order to build a platform for continued discussion even after the Congress has ended.