Our Apathetic Youth

In a recent integration activity of youth leaders from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. in Mountain View Nature Park in Busay, Cebu, apathy is found out as the top problem of the youth today. It was observed that the youth are not that interested on social issues.

Social issues make the whole pie. To compress the term, every aspect that affects our lives in the society are social issues especially in the realms of government, politics, religion, health, security, education, economy, poverty and social justice.

In fairness to the “hope of the Fatherland” as our national hero Jose Rizal called them, the youth have been raising pertinent social issues calling for the eradication of graft and corruption, improvement of the academic curricula, search for peace and order solution, alleviation of poverty, good government and governance, etc.

How did the government respond to the cries of the youth longing for credible reforms? The sad irony is that: our leaders and the government are apathetic themselves in listening to what the youth is saying. They are more concerned in their personal interests.

There’s no question that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill is one of the burning issues today that directly affects the youth. Anyone following the issue can quickly say that the government is only presenting one side of the coin and that is “The bill is good for Filipinos and the country.”

What is at stake is not simply the regulation of birth that controls the rapid growth of population which they pinpoint as the main cause of poverty. There is a moral issue which the government is silent on whether artificial family planning and the distribution of contraceptives and paraphernalia are right or wrong. That may not be the job of the government but for the sake of transparency as promised, whatever the position of the government is must be made known public and it is up to the experts to enlighten and guide us.

Right now, pro-RH and anti-RH factions are out justifying their stands to the point in saying that Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae is not an infallible document. There is a grain of salt there but it does not necessarily mean that if fallible, it is wrong or a total lie.

In particular, it is good if the government opens its book on how much is lost from graft and corruption and other illegal activities supposedly in billions and what if this amount should have been kept in our treasury or used productively instead of being pocketed. Yet, the government is silent.

During the First Quarter Storm in the 70s, the youth were very active in the streets protesting the decline of the economy and the worsening graft and corruption. Instead of being heard, they were met with an iron fist. Some of the student leaders were summarily executed, disappeared, tortured and dumped to jail  to languish without due process. After the fall of Marcos, the youth went to the streets again several times to protest uselessly.

In other countries, protesters are given the chance to be heard.

Were the issues raised by the youth during and after Marcos given consideration? Definitely not.

In other words, the youth today don’t care about social issues simply because the government does not need the youth to remind the authorities on what to do for the welfare of the citizenry in a just, fair and democratic  society. The so-called democratic government does not want to be minded and reminded.

Thus, who can blame the youth if their interests are focused in texting, logging in to Facebook, learning the  detail of the lives of some showbiz personalities, watching telenovelas and others that have nothing to do on important issues affecting the nation?

As the future pillar of this country, the youth should reinvent themselves in finding ways to actively participate in nation-building. Young and idealist, the country needs them on the condition that the government lends them an ear. -30-