It is the obligation of parents to prepare their children for a fair chance to succeed in their lives. Thus, education is the typical gift that elders work hard for to give their offspring. The college diploma is considered the key that shall open opportunities for a better financial and social status. Aside from this academic achievement, parents are entrusted to equip their children with the correct values that shall guide them in their adult years.
However, no matter how much parents prepare their children to become successful, there are external factors that would essentially spell the difference between our youth’s collective success or failure. Politics, the economy, community, governance, competition and overall strategic direction of the country are among the components that help determine what the future of our young individuals will be.
Aug. 12, 2024 is officially being celebrated as “World Youth Day.” This year’s theme is “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development.” Such theme implies that young men and women must be gearing towards the current technological progress that the future demands. This digital advancement is anchored on sustainability, which urgently touches on environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, we are still pre-occupied with and debating on how to overcome the same issues of massive poverty, social inequities, corruption, inefficiencies and abuses being allegedly committed by public officials, lack of genuine reform and weak democratic institutions. These are the same issues that plagued our ancestors.
The concerns of the Katipuneros before the turn of the century were practically similar to the ones that we are tasked to resolve as a people today. Hence, the big question is, will our generation be able to finally end all these problems? Or shall we again just pass them on to the next generation and pathetically hope that they will endure and overcome the hurdles that we, and the generations before us, failed to address.
Role models are always needed to inspire and help our youth to reach higher goals in life. The recent spectacular Olympic victory of Carlos Yulo will definitely inspire many of our youth who, by the way, is legally defined as aged 15 to 30 years old. His rags-to-riches story is now an instant urban legend that will surely be the main topic of conversations. He made history with his two gold medals. I’ve seen his performance on screen, he really made us proud, especially when our national anthem was being played. For few minutes, we felt to be at par with other nations.
Our history is also jeweled with young heroes who gallantly fought our colonizers. Top of the list were two revolutionary generals of the Katipunan. General Emilio Aguinaldo was 29 years old when he became the president of the Philippine Republic. Prior to being hailed as our first chief executive, he successfully led the war against the Spanish conquistadores who occupied our land for more than 300 years. He was in his mid-20s then.
The charismatic youngest general of the movement was Gregorio del Pilar. He was only 22 years old when he was entrusted to lead a brigade of brave Katipuneros. He was well-known for his selfless last act of heroism when he had to cover the escape of General Aguinaldo in the Battle of Pasong Tirad on Dec. 2, 1899 where he died at age 24 defending the country.
Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero, was also in his mid-20s when he started writing Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These literary protests have served as inspiration, especially to the middle class. He was only 35 years old when he was executed by firing squad.
Are we better off today than 50 years ago? By any measurement, our country is still confronted with daunting problems. There are still more than 20 million poor Filipinos or around 4.5 million families who are still struggling for daily survival. This is not caused by the current administration. Such poverty is due to many decades of neglect and mismanagement of our natural, human and financial resources. Our neighbors have already surpassed our economy, which used to be second to Japan in the 1960s to early 1970s.
We don’t have a strong manufacturing and industrial base. Our economic structure remains service- and import-oriented, which hardly provides globally competitive compensations. This environment compelled more than 2.3 million Filipinos to take their chances in foreign countries.
Will our youth today be thankful of the economy, political system and collective social status that they shall have in the near future? Make a guess.
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Email: arielnepo.philstar@gmail.com