By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr.

Enabling the youth to become effective leaders.

The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), in partnership with the United States Embassy in Manila, conducted a webinar on leadership last May 10-11. 

Dubbed Project Bukel (Ilokano term for seed), the two-day online event tackled various topics that explained how to become brave, understanding, knowledgeable and excellent leaders. 

In line with the American Spaces Philippines: Emerging Voices program of MMSU and the US Embassy, the webinar was organized by the MMSU’s American Corner in Batac, US-Philippine Alumni - Ilocos, Student Development Unit, and the University Student Council.

Six alumni of US-based scholarship programs served as resource speakers in the two-day webinar: Prof. Rommel M. Dascil, Ms. Mary Pauline L. Caoili, Dr. Saturnina F. Nisperos, Dr. Aris Reynold V. Cajigal, Prof. Luvee Hazel C. Aquino, and Mr. Ryan Roi B. Domingo. 

Cajigal, Dascil, and Nisperos were grantees of the Fulbright Graduate School Program in 2007, 2009, and 2014, respectively. Cajigal, a holder of PhD in science education at University of Georgia, talked about leaders in education; Dascil, a graduate of MA in international development and social change in Clark University, Massachusetts, explained how to attain sustainable development in school leadership; and Nisperos, a PhD in Modelling and Simulation alumna at Old Dominion University in Virginia, expounded the use of information and communications technology in leadership. 

Meanwhile, Caoili, a participant of the Southeast Asian Youth Leadership Program (SEAYLP) in 2012, shared her experiences through her topic, ‘leaders in civic engagements.’

On the other hand, Aquino tackled communication in leadership. A grantee of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship (FFLTA) in Stanford University in 2013, she is the acting director of MMSU’s Office for Strategic Communication. 

Moreover, Domingo was a high-performing alumnus of the Online Professional English Network – Global Online Course in 2020. And now the chief of digital media services of the university, he shared his expertise on branding in leadership. 

University President Shirley C. Agrupis, a grantee of Fulbright-Philippine Agriculture Scholarship program, keynoted the project bukel webinar. She shared best practices in leading and setting the direction of an organization. 

More than 300 university student leaders participated in the webinar via Zoom. The Facebook live broadcast of the event also garnered more than 10,000 views as of this writing. 

Dr. Jan Rich Guira, an FFLTA 2015 grantee and training convener, said project bukel was conducted in support with the continuing effort of the American Spaces Philippines to promote youth leadership and engage the youth to pursue more opportunities and increase their involvement in youth-led programs. 

The webinar was graced by Ms. Pauline Anderson, assistant cultural affairs officer of the US Embassy in Manila. (StratCom)