by Katharine Manalo || Photo Credits: NYC Fb Page

The Philippine Science High School – Eastern Visayas Campus (PSHS-EVC) obtained a set of achievements as selected Grade 12 students participated in the 18th National Youth Congress (NYC), held last November 20-21 via Zoom, alongside other Filipino high school students. 

The NYC is an annual congress presented by the University of the Philippines (UP) Economics Society and UP School of Economics Student Council. The event aims to provide high school students with an engaging introduction to economics and to demonstrate the power of economic analysis in clarifying relevant societal issues. This year, with the theme, “Descend to Ascend: Moving towards Genuine Development for an Empowered Nation”, the convention highlighted the importance of human welfare in development through a series of talks and activities centered on the role of economics and the youth in developing people-centered policies and initiatives. 

Erika Flanco, one of PSHS-EVC’s delegates, finished as champion for the CAPTURE: Infographics Making Competition. Flanco’s winning piece was composed of imagery that showed how the world looked during the initial implementation of lockdown. According to her, the airplane routes incorporated in the infographic were inspired by how everyone rushed back to their hometowns. She noted that one may also view it from the perspective of the virus spreading and inevitably affecting the various sectors— including wage workers, urban poor, women, and children, overseas Filipino workers, persons with disabilities— that are the central focus of the infographic.  

Flanco emphasized, “The overall goal was to inform our fellow Filipinos on their [sectors’] current disposition.” 

Besides the CAPTURE contest, she also competed in the INK: Visual Arts Competition.

Jim Yvene Cadion, Julianna Nebrija, and Bryan Dela Cruz placed as semi-finalists in the SMART: Idea Pitch Competition. Cadion and Dela Cruz qualified as semi-finalists in the Economics Quiz Bee, with Jun Kwon Shin and Jean Lourd Misa as their substitute representatives. Dela Cruz also participated in the INK: Essay Writing Competition. Nebrija and Misa along with Kirsten Casas competed in the GLIMPSE: Video Making Competition. The delegates were coached by Economics teacher Emman Patata. 

Patata shared that he was proud of all the delegates for being able to share their outstanding outputs with the rest of the country. According to him, he recognized the willingness of the delegates to make the world a better place, and he wanted to provide a platform for the students to apply what they learned in his subject to gain a deeper comprehension of real-world, societal issues. 

“I wanted them to use their talents, to have their voices and ideas be heard by their fellow youth nationwide… if we can see talents from our students, we should encourage them to use it for the greater good,” he expressed.