QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 485)
The main purpose of Executive Order No. 485 is to establish the Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) and create the National Cooperators Council to oversee, plan, and coordinate the implementation of the YEP to develop the entrepreneurial skills of the youth and contribute to nation-building.
The National Youth Commission (NYC) derives its mandate under Republic Act No. 8044, the Youth in Nation-Building Act of 1995, to formulate the Youth Entrepreneurship Program.
The five major components of the Youth Entrepreneurship Program are: (a) Business Plan Development and Training; (b) Credit Assistance and Lending; (c) Mentoring; (d) Market Syndication and Linkaging; and (e) Business Information Network.
The Council is composed of the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry as Chairman, the Chairperson of the National Youth Commission as Co-Chairperson, and senior officers (not lower than Assistant Secretary or equivalent) from various government agencies such as the Departments of Labor and Employment, Social Welfare and Development, Interior and Local Government, Agrarian Reform, Science and Technology, Commission on Higher Education, Presidential Management Staff, and financial institutions like Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines, among others.
The Council's key functions include formulating implementing guidelines for YEP, strengthening existing youth-oriented entrepreneurship projects, coordinating with government and private sectors for assistance to beneficiaries, providing regular reports to the President, and performing other functions assigned by the President.
Council members identify or develop youth-oriented entrepreneurship programs consistent with their mandates and enroll them under the Program. Enrolled programs are classified under the major YEP components such as Business Plan Development and Training, Credit Assistance and Lending, Mentoring, Market Syndication and Linkaging, and Business Information Network.
YEP Action Officers act as their agency’s point person in the Program's implementation, coordinate the agency’s YEP-enrolled programs, prepare and submit implementation reports, and liaise with the Program Secretariat regarding policies and activities agreed upon by the Council.
The Council is authorized to call upon any government department, bureau, or agency for assistance and may seek help from private sector groups and NGOs to provide technical and funding assistance. It can also enter into partnership agreements with the private sector and Congress, subject to legal requirements and government regulations.
The Program is funded through appropriations from the concerned agencies' respective budgets, starting with the 1999 budgets, and may be augmented by soliciting funding and contributions from the private sector and foreign institutions, subject to government auditing and accounting rules and regulations.
The National Youth Commission (NYC) provides the secretariat, administrative, and technical support to the Council.