Damgo Naton Masbate

We are the Damgo Naton Youth Organization for Sustainable Development, Inc. Locally known as Damgo Naton Masbate, we are a youth-led organization based in Masbate City, Province of Masbate. We mainstream the sustainable development movement in the Province of Masbate by promoting awareness about its socioeconomic and environmental affairs, by forwarding innovative solutions to improve the quality of life of its communities, and by strengthening the foundation of the Masbateño identity through the development of its local arts and the discovery of its local history. Damgo is a Masbateño word for “Dream.” A dream can be used to refer to a vision of a person or a group for the future. It is the one that guides and keeps a person or a group to continuously work for tomorrow. On the other hand, Naton is a Masbateño word for “Our.” Damgo Naton Masbate therefore literally means “Our Dream Masbate.” This signifies that realizing the dream for Masbate for the future is a collective action of its people. The organization educates, incubates ideas and advocacy, and acts its development initiatives precisely to engage and empower Masbateños to be part of this collective endeavor. Damgo Naton Masbate traces its roots as an online advocacy blog launched on December 27, 2017. It is founded as an organization on September 30, 2018 by youth leaders representing different sectors and is formally launched to the public on December 20, 2018. However, due to the lack of resources and the absence of proper planning of the organization’s activities and commitments, it temporarily stopped its operations from November 2019 to March 2020. Nevertheless, on September 9, 2020, it has successfully relaunched itself and is now continuously actualizing its objectives through four flagship advocacy projects, namely, PAG-ARAM Masbate (or the PAG-urusad para sa mga ARAdalon Manungod sa Masbate), Arte Masbate, Masbate Wild, and Libraries for Masbate. On August 18, 2021, just a month before its first relaunching anniversary, Damgo Naton Masbate was successfully registered, officially as Damgo Naton Youth Organization for Sustainable Development, Inc., to the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock and non-profit organization. It has also been officially registered as a non-stock and non-profit organization to the Bureau of Internal Revenue on September 15, 2021. Both feats represented the organization’s strong commitment to become an established open platform for the Masbateños to be part of Masbate’ sustainable development process.