For everything that is happening now in the country, young people carry the most painful burden: bearing witness to the darkness of it all.
Until you reach a certain age, all that you do is witness—see and feel the frustration surrounding the country and be able to do nothing about it except trust that those older than you are also wiser. It is a strange kind of helplessness, the kind that forces you to sit still while watching adults make decisions that will eventually shape the entirety of your future.
From the current disgraceful events at the Senate that are borderline idiotic and laced with selfish intent on the part of those in power, to the way the people whom Filipinos should be relying on the most right now—the president and the vice president—are both nowhere to be seen, in addition to the later facing impeachment trials. There is nothing more depressing for a community that embodies hope, such as the youth, than to witness their home country falling apart from the inside out. Coming to the realization that maybe hope is not just lost, maybe it was buried deep under layers of humiliation, injustice, and inequality perpetrated by the country’s very own government and the people who blindly worship them.
There are many conversations surrounding the apparent “weakness” of the current generation. Even Robin Padilla—an actual individual who was given power and authority—used his platform to emphasize how weak and fragile the youth of today are, going as far as mentioning how, during “their time,” depression was not on “trend.”
This just goes to show how, for a country that views the youth as the hope of the nation, there seems to be very little trust or belief backing them when, in reality, the youth of today are also raised by the adults of today.
It is a form of irony to shame, belittle, or even underestimate the state and capabilities of the kids who were raised out of a broken system that the older generations created, tolerated, and maintained. A generation does not simply wake up one day carrying fear, anger, confusion, and hopelessness for no reason. These emotions come from somewhere, and more often than not, they are reflections of the environment people were forced to grow up in. And for the sake of discussing it despite it being obvious, strength is seen in many ways.
In the big year of 2026, the ones who are truly weak are those who are afraid to show their weaknesses and instead point out other people’s. Being strong does not mean filing an ethics complaint when someone raises their voice at you because you interrupted them, and it is definitely not praising a man for firing a shot at a legislative institution just to protect a wanted individual. These are not displays of strength but portrayals of pride, ego, and the refusal to be held accountable.
Those who hold true strength and power are those who learn from the mistakes and weaknesses of the past, whether that be one’s own mishaps or observations of others’. Being a child raised in a damaged society and gaining awareness means being overwhelmed by all these normalized misconducts and how many people justify them just to save their pride. Sometimes the most exhausting part is realizing just how deeply these behaviors have already rooted themselves into everyday life to the point where people no longer question them.
As they say, “Ang namulat ay hindi na muling pipikit,” those who have opened their eyes will never be able to close them again. As a generation raised in a modern world where information surrounds you and the only thing you really have to do is seek what is reliable and true, to be blind is a choice and to be ignorant is a sin. For the initial years of your lives, you bear the burden of solely observing and being bystanders to the chaos surrounding Philippine politics and all that it affects, which is everything, because everything is political. But you have to take note that when the time comes for the desire and hope for change to be actualized through voting, knowledge from all that you have seen, experienced, and learned becomes the very power that can change not only your life, but also the future of a dying country relying on your choices.
A line from one of Itchyworms’ most memorable songs, “Kabataang Pinoy“, says, “Kabataang Pinoy, pagbutihan mo, pag-asa ka ng buong mundo.” A line that both motivates and puts pressure and sense of urgency for the youth. One that reminds you that whatever you do affects not only yourself but also the democratic country that values your vote. The youth are the hope of the country not solely because they are the future adults, but because they will also determine the future leaders, and they may become the future leaders themselves. That is why it is so important that the youth are given the proper resources they need so they can determine what is best for the country using their own critical minds, guided by education and experience rather than misinformation and biases.
Hope becomes hope because someone believes in it. A hope that no one bets on is worse than a losing gamble, and a person who relies solely on blind hope without action is a person bound to lose. At the same time, hope should not be treated as something magical that automatically fixes a nation on its own. Hope only becomes meaningful when people are willing to act on it, defend it, and fight for it even when it becomes exhausting to do so.
In the same way that investments are made to collect gains, the youth are being invested in through education. As part of the youth, do not take your privilege of learning and being educated for granted because, although it is every child’s lawful right, not every parent has the means to grant that right in the midst of an economy run by greed and selfishness.
While scrolling through different social media platforms, you might see people sharing their views on current political events. You might also see a certain celebrity expressing the loss of hope and how tiring it is to care. In the moment where you think you are starting to relate, I want you to consider those who do not have the freedom to do that—to not care. Those who “cannot move on” because moving on means losing their source of income, not being able to feed their family, and ultimately, not being able to survive. These are not simply stories you scroll past on your phone before moving on to the next video or trend, these are lived in realities and are continuing long after people stop talking about them online.
For those blessed enough, the current issues in politics may just be another disappointment best dealt with by staying silent and feigning ignorance, but for others, it is a matter of life and death. To not care is to let go of the hope that there is so much more to life than starving, than tirelessly working every day only to be underpaid, than being flooded with loans just for the sake of daily survival. To them, to not care is to choose death and accept that being alive means living a life that is unfair—a life that favors the rich and stomps on the poor.
Perhaps not everyone who chooses silence does so out of cruelty, some are simply exhausted, overwhelmed, or convinced that nothing will ever truly change anymore. But even then, silence still benefits the people who continue to abuse their power unchecked. So, as part of the youth who have the power to change the system, give these families another chance at life and prevent even more families from living the same fate by taking your education seriously. Acknowledge that politics is not merely a trend or a topic for heated discussion. Politics affects everything and everyone everywhere; being completely indifferent towards it only allows the cycle of suffering to continue for the people who can least afford it.
As you shoulder this responsibility, you must use all the weapons in your arsenal, especially the ones that help you determine and analyze what is right and wrong. A government should not represent a color or a family; the only ones they should serve are the people who elected them, whose income pays for their wages, and whose taxes feed them. In a world where manipulation is so easy with the proliferation of fake news and fabricated stories—so much so that it divides the masses—your power, as young as you are, is to be a breath of fresh air in this suffocating and never-ending cycle of hell.
Think for yourselves and use what you have learned to know the truth on your own terms without anyone dictating to you or telling you what you should or should not do. Youth does not mean gullible or easily tricked. Youth comes from the ancient Proto-Indo-European “yeu,” which means “vital force” or “youthful vigor.” You are meant to be strong, to resist and be passionate, to be vigorous. As a vital force, you hold the power to cause evolution and development, to help a body grow, heal, and adapt to the changes it encounters.
This may be too much for you because it is—it is a lot. It is definitely not a one-person job. Although that may come with its pros and cons, the good thing is that you can do something about it. You have control, and you are not alone in this fight. Sometimes, the idea of helping change an entire country sounds impossible for one person, especially when the problems have existed for generations before you were even born.
Influence can appear in several ways. It can come from a celebrity you look up to, a social media personality you often watch, or the most obvious and influential of all—your family and friends. You influence in the same manner that you are influenced; it all comes down to intention, persuasion, and factual information.
With the right intention, you persuade the people closest to you by giving them reliable information or proof. Whatever they do with what you have given is up to them. The important thing is that you gave them the opportunity to wake up. You set up the alarm, and now the decision to wake up or to keep sleeping depends on them. And while they decide, the one they will look at to see if their decision is worth it is no one else but you. In this way, influencing is not a one-time thing; it is a consistent and continuous process of inviting others to join the same battle that you are fighting and showing them that it is not a losing one.
This letter may not be what you expected. You may have thought that this would assure you that everything will be alright and that you do not have to worry your young little mind. But the truth is always harsher. Nothing is going to be alright if you do not make it right, and worries will become problems if you just ignore and let them be. The future is in your hands, and the lives of millions of people depend on your decisions.
You might be in your “prime,” and taking this seriously might feel like a waste of your precious youth, but keep in mind that life is more enjoyable and romanticizable if the system that controls it is composed of people who actually do their jobs and do not settle for—as the current government does—not even the bare minimum. A functioning society should not feel like an impossible fantasy or a privilege reserved only for the wealthy and fortunate. Think of all the what-ifs that could actually be answered for you and for the future generations that will benefit from your choice to empathize and give the seriousness of the issue the attention it deserves and calls for.
What I am saying at the end of this letter is that it is probably easier not to care. Dealing with your own problems is difficult enough, so why do you have to solve the problems of an entire country, right?
But think about this: do you think these problems would exist in the first place if the government, which holds so much power over our lives, truly cared about the people it swore to serve and protect? The choices and priorities of our government impact our lives so much more than we think they do—from agriculture and transportation, to education and safety. Would you let just anyone make random and possibly self-glorifying decisions regarding these very significant areas of your life? Because to not care is to let exactly that happen, to let the suffering continue, and to let injustice win, and those perpetrating it emerge victorious.
Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is easier. But easy does not mean right, and only a few have the morals and courage to pursue righteousness over convenience. This letter is for the young people, for the youthful vigor and the vital force of our nation who hold the power to drive the country’s future. What path do you choose?
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