Two NegOcc elected officials to represent Region VI to U.S. Embassy’s AMPLIFY 8

Vice Mayor Justin Gatuslao of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental and Councilor Atty. Christine Thel Geollegue of Brgy. Robles, La Castellana will represent Western Visayas in the eighth edition of the Alumni Mobilization Program through Leadership and Influence to Filipino Youth (AMPLIFY) on February 9-11 in Bacolod City.

Vice Mayor Gatuslao and Atty. Geollegue are among the 30 YSEALI alumni who applied and got accepted to represent their respective provinces and regions. The other participants are also leaders and emerging voices in various fields and industries from other areas in the Philippines.

AMPLIFY is an annual program for selected Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) alumni to lead initiatives throughout the year to engage the YSEALI network across the country.

Vice Mayor Gatuslao was one of the two legislators in the Philippines to join the 2023 YSEALI Professional Fellows hosted by the American Council of Young Political Leaders in July last year, joining the “Governance and Society” cohort.

Meanwhile, neophyte barangay council member Atty. Geollegue was a Fall 2016 YSEALI Academic Fellowship Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, as part of the “Civic Engagement” cohort. She is one of the most active alumni of U.S. government programs alumni in Negros Occidental.

Aside from representing Western Visayas, both are also joining as members of the U.S. Government Alumni Association – Negros Occidental and YSEALI Hub Negros Occ.

The eighth installment of AMPLIFY will be held at SEDA Capitol Central in Bacolod City.

YSEALI is a highly-competitive cultural exchange program for Southeast Asian emerging leaders sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. In the Philippines, YSEALI programs including AMPLIFY are implemented by the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines together with partners and alumni.