We’re real cool,
We love school.
We sing themes,
We lead peace.
We strike straight,
We make change.
We jazz June,
We reign soon!
Many view us as merely a state of transition, more of a biological category. However, we set to define it, as youth remains an ambiguous concept more than just a category overlaid with social consequences as a complex set of shifting culture classifications marked by differences and diversity. These would include for example music, rap, style, responsibility, hope and the future. The issue here is not whether these various discourses about us are referentially accurate, but they are their selves parts of the context in which we, the youth are organized.
We are set in a very challenging space that you, the generation who existed before us has made.
The country is in flux of change and beset with multifarious complexities- political crisis, poverty, environmental degradation, economic crisis, graft and corruption and more.
Very challenging, isn’t it? We are made to understand that this is the space given to us. We, the young people have to make an investment in it, as a privilege site, in which we foreground our own senses of differences.
What pledge now shall I give that I may prove worthy of my inheritance? How can I justify my title as the ‘Hope of my Fatherland’?
It can be recalled from the past three Edsa Revolutions, we proven ourselves as vanguards of freedom, truth and justice. We led the protests against corruptions, dictatorship and the likes.
You are the living witnesses of our dynamism in the spirit of civic actions and voluntarism especially in these times of troubles and calamity. We never cease helping the needy.
The youth population was estimated more than a billion in this era which comprise about 34% of the total population. It is expected that the youth population would grow up in the succeeding years. With this great number, the young people are considered as a crucial segment in nation’s development. Thus, our contribution is highly needed and urgent yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
There are so many things out there that the youth can still do; ways which may impact to the lives of out fellow Filipinos. Sure, the government must be reminded at times to be accountable of their responsibilities, but we have also to do our part as citizens of this country. That is the value of contribution. Like the little boy in the starfish story who kept throwing starfishes back to the ocean. He may not help all the starfishes scattered, but he surely made a difference to each starfish he threw back to the ocean. In the same manner, our goal is to make a difference one step at a time to the lives of our fellowmen. And we are going to start it by doing things which are within our reach.
As the youth, let us not be unmindful about the current issues and events in the country, be abreast with it; be not blinds on what is the truth, seek and expose it; be not too much dependent, learn to stand on our own; be not lacking of motivation, be aggressive in giving away our contributions in every single way; and be not neglectful, be responsible on our duties. Let us clasp education, innovations, patriotism, and nationalism full heatedly.
This is all the space we need, and the space where we are most needed. Yes, we are the generation transition and maybe our manners and styles are strange to you, our elders. But, we can do something, and we will do something –against all odds.
Indeed, we are still the perfect picture of your young people aflame with so much idealism and energy running wildly in our veins that could light up a whole nation. These are what I am. I am the youth.
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