Davao youth leader to officials: “you can use or abuse your power, or listen”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 13 July) – A Dabawenyo youth leader who brought honor to the city and country last year as one of 16 Philippine Youth Ambassadors of Goodwill to the 48th Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program (SSEAYP) could not have imagined in January that the City Council that honored him with a commendation then would humiliate him five months later.
But after the initial shock, Marvelous Dainty Camilo has bounced back and has challenged the elected to “use or abuse your power” or “listen to the concerns on the ground.”
He said public servants have two options “when it feels like youth leaders are against you” and these are to “use or abuse your power and fight back,” or “listen to the concerns on the ground” to address pressing issues such as rising cases of teenage pregnancy and HIV, the need for mental health support, lack of educational and job opportunities, worsening air, land and sea pollution, among others.
Camilo became the subject of another resolution in late June, “revoking” the January commendation, for alleged misconduct during the election, a move criticized by his supporters as “political persecution” and “bullying.”
But the honorary title of Philippine Youth Ambassador of Goodwill, he said, was conferred on him and other youth leaders in the Philippines who participated in the 48th SSEAYP, by the Office of the Philippine President through the National Youth Commission, together with the Cabinet of the Japanese Government. “It stays with me and cannot be revoked by any local government bodies,” the 28-year old leader said in a statement posted on his social media page on July 5.
On January 14 this year, the City Council passed a resolution commending Camilo for having brought honor to the city for his feat as one of 168 delegates from member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan to the 48th SSEAYP. All delegates were conferred the title of Youth Ambassador of Goodwill by their respective countries and Japan.
Camilo brought more pride for the city and the country for having been elected as Overall Discussion Group Leader in the 48th SSEAYP.
The January resolution was introduced by Councilor Kristine May John Abdul Mercado, chair of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation. Five months later, on June 24, Mercado authored the resolution “revoking the commendation conferred upon Marvelous Dainty C. Camilo as an Ambassador of Goodwill due to conduct inconsistent with the integrity, credibility, and moral standards expected of a youth leader in Davao City.”
Couched in vague terms, the June resolution claimed that “recent verified reports and validated observations during the last election period” reached the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation that Camilo allegedly engaged in “behavior unequivocally unbecoming of a youth leader and a public role model.”
The resolution did not provide details about alleged “acts of public disrespect, conduct inciting divisiveness, and actions demonstrably inconsistent with the ethical expectations inherently attached to his prior commendation and position.”
MindaNews sought Mercado for comments and clarifications at least five times but she sent no reply.
Camilo was Legislative Staff and Consultant of PBA Party-list Representative Margarita Ignacia B. Nograles from 2023 until June 30 this year. Nograles’ brother, Karlo, ran for mayor against former President Rodrigo Duterte while she ran for 1st district representative against Paolo Duterte. The Duterte patriarch won an 8th term while Paolo won a third term.\
The “revoking” resolution was passed on June 24, the last session day of the 20th City Council, a day after the Davao City Youth Development Council met. Camilo was among those who inquired on the status of the Local Youth Development Plan and Youth Code. He told MindaNews that Mercado was not around but a paralegal and Youth Development Officer answered that the LYDP has not been passed because they need the signatures of Council members.
“If that’s the case, dapat dugay na nila gipangayo among pirma (they should have long asked for our signatures) because the LYDP was done and reviewed by LYDC members August (2024) pa,” he told MindaNews.
Elected in 2023, SK officials are supposed to end their term this year, shortly after the December 1 polls but Congress reset the elections to the first Monday of November 2026. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on July 10 said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had not received the enrolled bill but would study it carefully when it reaches him.
“Not theirs to give, not theirs to revoke”
Camilo, who was invited to the City Council when it passed the resolution commending him last January, told MindaNews that it was a “commendation, not a conferment” and that the title of “Ambassador of Goodwill” was “not theirs to give, nor is it theirs to revoke.”
He said the resolution “simply acknowledged that I had already been appointed as a Philippine Youth Ambassador of Goodwill by the Government of Japan and the Government of the Philippines” through the SSEAYP.
“This means the legal and institutional authority to appoint or remove someone from that role rests solely with those two national agencies, not with any local body, including the City Council or the Sangguniang Kabataan,” he said, adding that what the City Council and SK did was “overstepping.”
“At best, what they issued was a local commendation—an acknowledgment—not the actual appointment. You can’t revoke something you didn’t have the power to give in the first place. It’s like trying to fire someone from a job where you are not part of the company,” he said.
In the June resolution, Mercado invoked Republic Act No. 10742, or the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015, and RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Camilo is not an SK member or official.
“Overstepping”
Since 2020, Camilo has been a volunteer member of the Local Youth Development Council, a body created under RA 10742 and tasked with advising the SK and contributing to the formulation of youth policies and programs in the city.
“LYDC members are not public officials. We are not elected, not appointed to any government plantilla position, and we receive no salary, benefits, or compensation. There is no employer-employee relationship between LYDC members and the local government,” he said.
Mercado’s invoking RA 10742 and RA 6713, he said, “was a clear overreach and reveals how the author is unfamiliar with the laws she has cited. These provisions apply to actual public servants, not to volunteer youth advisers who are not part of the civil service and have no formal government authority.”
Camilo also noted that the resolution’s claims of alleged misconduct and unethical behavior “are unfounded and unsupported by any formal complaint, evidence, or due process. If this is about my past role as a campaigner for an opposition camp or my support during the elections, let me be clear: that is my right.”
“These rights don’t disappear just because I served in the Local Youth Development Council. What’s truly concerning is the use of a commendation revocation to punish independent thought and political freedom. You can revoke your resolution, but you can’t revoke my rights—or my record of service,” he said.
In his July 5 statement, Camilo vowed, that he would “continue to serve and lead”
whether or not the commendation was revoked.
“When we see others as different from us, our differences should not reflect our fears, insecurities, or prejudices. Instead, they should remind us of our shared humanity. Diversity has always been part of Davao City: Diversity in beliefs, in culture, in tradition, and yes, even in political ideologies. A proud Dabawenyo understands that these differences are not a weakness, but a strength. A strength that weaves a deeper, stronger fabric of our city,” he added.
He called on youth leaders to “continue calling out incompetence to demand better.”
Not for reward but for impact
“Public servants are paid by the people. They should serve the people. And to all voluntary leaders: may you continue to see the quiet beauty of the work we do, not for reward, but for impact. For the lives we touch. For the change we make,” he said.
Camilo, former chair of Dyesabel, a non-profit organization focusing on co-creating marine conservation initiatives with the youth and Sama-Bajau
Community here, was among those who petitioned the Supreme Court on April 21 for a Writ of Kalikasan with an urgent prayer for a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) in relation to the Samal-Davao bridge project, claiming actual, serious, and irreversible damage to coral reefs in Paradise Reef, Samal Island, and Hizon Marine Protected Area in Davao City.
The Supreme Court on July 1 issued a Writ of Kalikasan against the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Samal Island Protected Landscape and Seascape Protected Area Management Board, and the China Road and Bridge Corporation and asked them to submit a verified return on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days after service of the writ. It also referred the prayer for a TEPO to the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro for action but the CA on July 10 denied the issuance of a TEPO.
“Commitment to what is fair, just, and right”
The Davao Young Leaders Organization (DYLO) in a statement said recognition or titles may come and go, but the work Camilo has been doing “speaks volumes, regardless of accolades.”
“We value accountability and do not tolerate wrongdoing. But in this case, the reasons behind the revocation remain unclear and raise valid concerns. We stand not out of loyalty to a person, but out of commitment to what is fair, just, and right,” it said.
Sung Goon Acosta, a student leader at the Ateneo de Davao University who looks up to Camilo for having played a “pivotal role in shaping the kind of leader I strive to become,” in a post on Camilo’s social media page said the latter inspired not only him but “countless other young people to lead with courage and compassion.”
He said he admires Camilo’s steadfast commitment to democracy and his relentless dedication to youth empowerment.
“No amount of political persecution can ever erase the impact of his sacrifices. His legacy lives on in the many young leaders he has mentored and in the movements that continue to carry his influence forward,” Acosta said.
Harvey Lao, Vice President for Mindanao of Kabataan party-list said the resolution, which he criticized as “out of baseless and inaccurate claims, is nothing short of character assassination.”
“We must see through this maneuver. This is clearly because of the support shown by Marvelous other than the Dutertes in the last May 2025 elections. Political institutions, such as the Sangguniang Kabataan, must not be used as a tool for political harassment,” he said.
He called on SK Federation for sobriety. “There are far more pressing issues of the youth that they need to attend to pronto, such as but not limited to rising prices of basic commodities, flooding and heavy traffic, demolition and development aggression, education and mental health crisis, as well as attacks on youth and students’ rights.”
“The youth deserves better. Do better, Davao City SK Federation,” Lao wrote. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews with a report from Ian Carl Espinosa)
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