Filipino Youth In The Philippines

There is a saying often repeated in the Philippines that is attributed to the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, taken from his poem A la Juventud Filipina; that “[t]he youth is the hope of the future.” In the Philippines, a country highly characterized by its religious tradition and conservatism (by virtue of its colonization by the Spanish Empire of the Exploration Age), the youth (by virtue of their membership to generation Y, a.k.a. the Millennials) becomes its bridge to globalization and the modern era. As of 2007, the Philippine government stands as being the only nation in the world that actively involves its youth in public governance. The Filipino youth have proven themselves effective in this capacity all throughout Philippine history – notable examples of this include: the First Quarter Storm (FQS), characterized by stiff and often violent resistance from various student groups protesting against the Philippine government; the Samahang Demokratikong Kabataan (SDK), most notable for its prominence in the FQS, and; the Dliliman Commune (hailed as the first display of mass resistance after the FQS), wherein students of the University of the Philippines, along with faculty members and residents, stood side-by-side transport workers in a week-long mass demonstration against rising gas prices. According to the National Statistics Office’s 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 18.4% or almost one-fifth of the population is comprised of the youth