Behind the NYFH
The initial idea of NYFH was created one afternoon of October 2011 at Estrada, Tarlac City, Tarlac during the 1st Alumni Formation Program of The Outstanding Students of the Philippines Region 3 Alumni Community of Heroes (TOSP R3ACH). Noorain S. Sabdulla, a TOSP alumna, shared to her fellow TOSP alumnus, Ian Christopher B. Alfonso, her dream of initiating a one-stop exposition of all about Central Luzon. Alfonso then laid out the details and the project was named Timyas: First Central Luzon Heritage Expo. The idea was adopted by TOSP R3ACH as one of its heritage programs in 2012 and was proposed for the 2013 competitive grants of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). The NCCA approved the project in January 2013 and was slated to take place in the last week of November 2013. The project, however, was canceled due to lack of counterpart funding.
Part of Alfonso’s original idea of Timyas was a one-day Filipino Heritage Youth Forum. When it was adopted in 2012, the nomenclature and status was changed to Philippine Youth Convention on Heritage (PYCH), with an objective of gathering in Central Luzon various young advocates of heritage and cultural workers of the country.
The idea was revived in March 2014. Alvin Alcid, Chief of the Research, Publication and Heraldry Division of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), helped Alfonso in referring the PYCH project to the NCCA. (Alfonso was already an NHCP History Researcher II then.) Rev. Fr. Harold Rentoria, O.S.A., NCCA Commissioner on Cultural Heritage, accepted the project with enthusiasm. The new TOSP R3ACH Executive Committee under Engr. Lawrence Charlemagne David signified interest to pursue the project; Alfonso was made the liaison of TOSP R3ACH to NCCA.
In that year, Fr. Rentoria’s Angat Kabataan annual youth camp on Philippine heritage conservation was a success, posing a challenge for PYCH. TOSP R3ACH presented to Fr. Rentoria the more cohesive thrusts of the PYCH to address concerns of youth with heritage, vice-versa. Fr. Rentoria, on the other hand, challenged TOSP R3ACH to produce a module on the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 for the young stewards of heritage, start a dialogue with the Sangguniang Kabataan, and involve other cultural agencies, e.g. NHCP, National Museum of the Philippines, National Archives of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, in the proceedings.
The PYCH project had to undergo the NCCA Competitive Grant for 2015. TOSP R3ACH fell short of NCCA’s requirements, and the RFM Foundation, Inc. rescued the project. TOSP Foundation (formerly RFM Foundation) is the mother institution of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) program, and its Program Director happened to be Sabdulla.
The NCCA adopted PYCH in January 2015, which underwent a major revamp. On 3 June 2015 the PYCH secretariat was formed, streamlining the design of the convention and renamed for the third time as Convention on the Role of the Youth in Safeguarding the National Cultural Heritage. It was renamed for the fourth time as National Youth Forum on Heritage (NYFH) during the second secretariat meeting on 24 June 2015, adopting forum format.
On 6 July 2015, Dr. Vim Nadera, Director of the Philippine High School for the Arts, signified interest in hosting the 1st National Youth Forum on Heritage (1NYFH).
On 12 October 2015, the vision, mission and thrusts of the NYFH were modified to include natural heritage.