Category Archives: youth

Time to Rethink the Reasons Our Parents and Everybody Else Told Us about Why We Go to School

By admin | September 29, 2015

Written for Manila Today We are familiar with the economics and mechanics of education because these are often fiercely debated but the idea of schooling can still be improved if we initiate more conversations about the philosophy or philosophies that sustain it. Simply put, we should endeavor to give better answers to the question ‘Why […]

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Crowds and Champions: What An Inauthentic Fan Saw During the Golden State Warriors Victory Rally

By admin | September 20, 2015

Written for Manila Today How I wish I could hold the placard which reads ‘Authentic Fan’, take a selfie with it, and share on my social media networks. But I simply couldn’t do it because I am not an ‘authentic fan’ of the 2015 National Basketball Association champion Golden State Warriors. I do not even […]

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In defense of negativity and rah-rah activism

By admin | August 21, 2015

Written for Bulatlat If you think activists are too negative, then would you rather prefer the silent optimism of the apathetic? If unimpressed by the political value of streetnoise activism, would you follow the uncritical collaborationism as exemplified by the politics of former activists in the yellow regime? It is doubtful if people are exposed […]

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A Tough Year for Southeast Asia’s Opposition Parties

By admin | July 31, 2015

Written for The Diplomat If protests and minor election setbacks hounded the ruling parties across Southeast Asia in the past two years, their situation this year has already improved somewhat as opposition leaders in the region run into varying difficulties. In Myanmar, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi still cannot run for the presidency because […]

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Dear kids, you are free to choose your life, but will you please try activism?

By admin | June 21, 2015

Written for Bulatlat These are precarious times. We live in a world plagued by mass poverty, chronic hunger, wealth inequality, and racism but we seem to lack the will to overcome these preventable miseries. The world order is already ripe for an overhaul yet many are reluctant to admit it. Worse, some of us have […]

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Bakit Aktibista Ang Crush Ng Crush Mo?

By admin | May 14, 2015

Sinulat para sa Manila Today Dahil nagtitiwala siya sa masa; dahil kinakalinga siya ng masa Kaibigan ng mga inaapi, kaaway ng mga ilustradong kontrabida sa lipunan. Hindi umaastang bayani, sa halip ay nakasandig sa lakas ng mamamayang pumipiglas. Mayroon siyang barkada na ang tawag niya ay kolektib, mayroon siyang ugnay mula siyudad hanggang probinsiya na […]

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Rising Child Labor Abuse in the Philippines

By admin | April 6, 2015

Written for The Diplomat Child labor exploitation is worsening in the Philippines. In 2011, the Philippine National Statistics Office reported that there were 5.5 million working children in the country, 2.9 million of whom were working in hazardous industries such as mines and plantations. The agency added that 900,000 children have stopped schooling in order […]

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From Abra to Sarangani: The revolution in four deaths

By admin | January 9, 2015

Written for Bulatlat Tatay Francis Morales. Arnold Borja ‘AJ’ Jaramillo. Recca Noelle Monte. Rendell Ryan ‘Perper’ Cagula. AJ, Recca, and Perper were martyred NPA revolutionaries while Tatay Francis was an environmental activist who succumbed to leukemia. Their untimely deaths meant so many things to many people especially to loved ones who already shared moving tributes […]

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Generation X: The Bridge Generation

By admin | October 1, 2014

Written for Manila Today Two generations have dominated and are still dominating the early years of the 21st century. To borrow a few terms from American pop sociology, these are the baby boomers (our parents) and the millennials (our children). We stand in between these two generations which are separated by half a century. We […]

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Kabataan Partylist: The Next Generation

By admin | May 8, 2013

Before Kabataan Partylist, there were 17 youth groups which tried (but ultimately failed) to clinch representation in Congress through the partylist system. What is the ‘source code’ of our success? Kabataan was founded by the country’s leading youth organizations: National Union of Students (established in 1957), College Editors Guild (established in 1931 which makes it […]

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