A STUDENT of the De La Salle University was hailed as one of the 2021 Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leaders by a US-based organization that advocates education and other youth- related initiatives especially for disadvantaged communities.

Emmanuel Mirus Ponon, a BA Development Studies student, was recognized by the We Are Family Foundation for establishing the Youth Advocates for the Philippines that later evolved to the ASEAN Youth Advocates Network in 2020.

The Network is a non-profit organization that allows the youth in Southeast Asia to actively engage in socio-civic projects.

“Mirus experienced and witnessed poverty while growing up in Paco, a community surrounded by slum areas in Manila in the Philippines. Even though they were trying to lift themselves out of poverty, Mirus’s family frequently collected and donated items to those who were less fortunate,” WAFF said.

“Similarly, Mirus’ poverty did not hinder him, but instead motivated him to advocate for disadvantaged communities. His service journey led him to numerous opportunities, leadership roles and eventually he was selected as one of three Filipino students to participate in the ASEAN Youth Conference and elected as the Philippine Officer of the ASEAN University Student Council Union,” it added.

Ponon said he hoped to craft policy that encourages advocacy as a lifestyle for youth around the world.

“The youth should be given more doors and be foreseen as an integral stakeholder in the Philippines and international policy-making bodies. There are few, but it is not enough, and to break the stigma on what the youth can do is what I envision in making advocacy a lifestyle,” he said.

Ponon will join other young leaders when 2021 GTLs convene virtually from July 12 to August 18, 2021 for WAFF’s 13th Three Dot Dash Just Peace Summit.

WAFF, a not-for-profit organization co-founded by three-time Grammy-winning musician Nile Rodgers, is dedicated to the vision of a global family by creating programs that promote cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring the vision, talents, and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world.