The Red Cross Youth Department of the Philippine Red Cross had its 17th National Youth Congress last October 21-23, 2011 at Central Mindanao University, Maramag, Bukidnon. The National Youth Congress of the Red Cross Youth department is a biennial activity, which usually lasts for three days and is compact with talks, sessions and workshops. This year’s congress was geared up with the theme “I ACT: Assert, Care, Transform”.

The chosen spot was Bukidnon; located in the heart of Mindanao. The official venue is in Central Mindanao University at Maramag. Since the group came from Camarines Sur and is about more than 400 miles distant from the venue, there had been some conflicts with the transportation and financial matters. Nonetheless, the group was able to pull through and reach the venue safely and soundly.

There had been several plans in terms of transportation. Plan A was through plane, Plan B was through ship, and Plan C was through RORO (Roll on, Roll off). The group was not able to finalize the official participants for the Congress at an early time, so they failed to avail the lite fare promo for the plane tickets. It had led to the elimination of Plan A. Therefore, the group decided to follow Plan B.




Early in the morning of October 20, 2011, the three delegates and one adviser from the Philippine Red Cross Camarines Sur Chapter assembled at the front gate of Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Nabua, Camarines Sur at exactly 7:00 in the morning; all packed and ready. They rode off to Legazpi City through a bus ride at about 8:00, which took them about one and a half hour of travel. When they reached the Legazpi City terminal, they waited for about an hour before the van leading to Pilar, Sorsogon took off. It was a two-hour-ride until they reached the seaport at Pilar, Sorsogon. When they reached the port, they waited for about an hour to settle some transportation matters and wait for the motorboat to sail. There had been about eighty-five (85) passengers in the motorboat that will lead them to Masbate.

The boat sailed at about 12 noon. The sun was scorching hot and the sea was calm. The participants’ position in the boat was not really comfortable as they were seated near the engine. The steam from the engine was hot and the odor wasn’t pleasant either. One of them even had half of his body wet by the sudden flash of sea water from the slightly-rocking boat when they passed a stream of waves. It was a three-hour travel from Pilar, Sorsogon to Masbate.



The group reached Masbate seaport at around three o’clock in the afternoon. From there, they tried considering options. There was no available fast craft for the day so they decided to take the ordinary ship that will lead them to Cebu. After they purchased their tickets, the team decided to use the time from three-thirty to four o’clock in buying foods that may suffice their needs for the time being at the nearby LCC mall.






The boarding started at four o’clock in the afternoon. They passed through seaport security, secured their belongings and stole a couple hours of rest. They will be leaving at 6:00 in the afternoon and are expected to reach Cebu at 6:00 in the morning of the next day. However, they arrived two hours later than the expected time of arrival.





The group arrived at Cebu seaport at around 8:00 in the morning of October 21, 2011. The date was already reserved for the registration, orientation and opening program at the Congress and yet the group is still in the middle of their travel. They proceeded to inquire for the plane trips schedule at a nearby ticketing establishment for transportation. There was no available flight for the morning half of the day that will lead them to Cagayan de Oro. To make fruitful use of the time, the group went off to search for a Cebuana Lhuillier firm in order to get the financial sustenance sent by the council, another searched for a printing shop for the completion of the required documents to be submitted before NYC registration, and another searched for food. One of them was left at the ticketing building to watch for the luggage. After a span of two hours, the group reconvened at the ticketing office. They were able to get the amount and buy lunch. They decided to go to the airport directly and do the inquiry there for better weighing of available options.







They went to Cebu City airport through a taxi. When they reached the airport, they searched for the stalls and did the inquiry. They tried Cebu Philippines, Zest Air, Philippine Airlines, and Air Philippines. The group took their lunch in the airport in the middle of the decision-making process. After considering the financial requirements and time of travel, the group agreed to choose Air Philippines. It will leave at 5:15 in the afternoon and is expected to land at Cagayan de Oro at 5:45.



After they purchased their plane tickets, the group changed their clothes into their Red Cross shirts for identification and safety. They boarded the plane at 5:00 and reached Cagayan de Oro at approximately 5:45 in the afternoon.


The weather in Cagayan de Oro was gloomy and it made the atmosphere appear darker. The group decided to take CAGATRANSPO that will bring them to Cagayan de Oro bus terminal. When they reached the terminal, they did the inquiry about the routes that lead to Central Mindanao University. They took the 7:00 aircon bus ride – the third bus filled up according to the line-up of passengers - that they thought would bring them to Central Mindanao University. Apparently, they were shocked with the changes of routes. Instead of going past the University road going to MARAMAG, the bus dropped them off to Valencia, a town in Bukidnon, at around 11:00 in the evening. It’s still an hour ride away from the venue, which is Central Mindanao University.

The Terminal in Valencia was already empty: empty of vehicles and open stores. Luckily, there was a non-air-conditioned bus that leads to Davao City. It will pass by Central Mindanao University since, from what was gathered, it’s only along the highway.

After another hour of ride, they finally reached Central Mindanao University. The registration, orientation, and opening program were already finished and most of the participants are already deep in slumber. The group went to approach the secretariat committee and get the registration process done at least. However, the committee said that they may have the registration the next day. Though not registered just yet, the committee allocated rooms for the Camarines Sur Chapter participants to sleep at. After all, they came a long way to attend the congress. They also graced the group with dinner.

The three delegates were allocated with rooms at Central Mindanao University dormitory while the adviser had to join his colleagues at RR Resort. The rooms assigned for the three delegates were numbers 8 and 10.

Only after the group was welcomed inside the rooms by other participants were they able to take the rest they need for the next day’s activity – or rather, for the next couple of hours’ activity as they slept past midnight already.