Roots
The mighty young (Part 2)
By Marifi Jara
QUELIMANE, Mozambique—The youth vote, powerful as it is, should not be wasted.
I am not worried that our bagets (love that ‘80s word) will squander their vote by not going to the precincts on election day. I believe they will, especially the significant number who are going to be first-timers. And in Pangasinan, the history of voter turnout is pretty good at a range of between 70%-80% in the elections of recent years. Pangasinenses do come out to vote and I am hoping to see that average percentage pulled up in the May polls.
The bigger question is, to whom should those precious votes go. To be able to make smart choices, it would be good to lay out some issues that will help determine who are worthy to become our public servants, both at the national and local levels.
Good governance. This does not mean simply choosing a candidate who is somehow honest (not too many, really) but one who has shown political will or the potential will to fight corruption which taints most levels of government and as a result has crippled our development. We need leaders who will clean up the system and be proactive in introducing improved ways of managing public service.
Education. Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Which candidates have shown or talked about making improvements in our public school system in terms of infrastructure, facilities, and teacher training, among other things. Our respected oldies (I wouldn’t use that other 80s word – the forgets) love to talk about how excellent the public school system was in the 1940s to the 1970s. Why can’t we make it great again?
Employment. I mean local employment. Republic Act 8042, the Migrant Workers’ Act, passed in Aug 1995 states in Article 1, Section 1 (c) “While recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, the State does not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and achieve national development. The existence of the overseas employment program rests solely on the assurance that the dignity and fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Filipino citizen shall not, at any time, be compromised or violated. The State, therefore, shall continuously create local employment opportunities and promote the equitable distribution of wealth and the benefits of development.” Couldn’t have been said better. The financial gains are unarguably good, but the social costs of the OFW phenomenon to our people – both for those who leave to work in a foreign land and the family left behind – run deep. Our youth should demand from our government leaders that at some point in their (hopefully foreseeable) future, we would have a local employment environment wherein working abroad would be a choice and not The solution out of poverty.
Mother Nature. Environmental issues are not just a fashionable thing. The need to look after our environment is very, very real. This is an issue that is particularly important for local government officials. The actual work of protecting and managing natural resources is done on the ground, so to speak. So, who among our local bets care about our coasts and marine resources, the land and all the wastes that we are dumping around?
Putting these together, what our young should be raising before our politicians who are campaigning to become our leaders is basically: “how are we going to achieve a better quality of life?”. This is a question that alludes to the future, a future where we will find an improved version of our communities, province, and the country. We do understand that the future belongs, more than anyone else, to our young.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
