Civic Groups Lead SDG Drive at Iloilo Summit

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

More than 200 civil society leaders from across Western Visayas are taking the lead in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iloilo Chapter Inc. held a landmark leadership summit on Tuesday, June 24.

Seventy organizations from business, civil society, academia, and government participated in the summit, which focused on five SDG clusters: People, Planet, Peace, Prosperity, and Partnerships.

The event aimed to generate policy recommendations and youth-led strategies that PCCI Iloilo will elevate to relevant institutions for regional implementation.

“Five years to go, and we should show to have an Ilonggo impact for the UN SDGs,” said Engr. Fulbert C. Woo, president of PCCI Iloilo.

“For PCCI, our mandate is to be the voice of the business sector. And this summit is the bridge of our concerted corporate social responsibility efforts,” he added.

The summit marked the second installment of PCCI Iloilo’s impact initiative.

The first edition gathered national government agencies and NGOs to discuss sustainability.

“Fast forward to today, we take the conversation further to pitch in more ideas and align with our partners,” Woo said.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., one of the keynote speakers, emphasized that the government’s foremost duty is to protect the welfare of its people.

He underscored the importance of engaging youth in governance and development—not just as future leaders but as present-day partners.

“We want to engage our youth in the mainstream of governance and in the mainstream of our work of promoting and protecting the welfare of the people,” he said, referencing his administration’s MoRProGRes Iloilo strategy.

“We want you in agriculture, we want you in tourism, we want you in disaster resilience, we want you in all areas of governance and all aspects of our life,” he added.

Although education is primarily a national government function, Defensor said the province continues to invest heavily in it to expand opportunities for Ilonggos.

He emphasized that education remains the foundation for equitable growth.

Defensor also noted that good governance is not just a goal but a standard Iloilo aims to uphold across sectors.