The role of the youth as the country’s future leaders took center stage during Wednesday’s local celebration of the Philippines’ 115th Independence Day in this city.
Dr. Maria Cecilia Genove, Dean of the College of Mass Communication of Silliman University, was the guest of honor and speaker during the celebration held at the Quezon Park here.
In her message, “The meaning of Independence Day today,” Dr. Genove zeroed in on the “student phenomenon” which has become unprecedented today with student movements all over the world making their presence felt.
“The formidable presence of the youth was felt in our most recent electoral exercise just a month ago where many of our young people were first-time voters”, she said.
“Under modern social pressures, adults can only offer guidance to our youth. We could no longer restrain the mind and conscience of our youth from dramatically asserting themselves.”
She urged the youth to participate in the country’s leadership even as she admits that a “common lament today is that the essence of youth seems to be wasted on the young”.
Thus, the need for society to be conscious of its obligations and responsibilities in harnessing the full potentials of the youth to become the country’s future leaders, she said. Genove further stressed that that schools and universities should be “capable of elevating the ideals of youth to its lofty standards, emphasizing that the democracy we hold dear is as essential as our penchant for expressing ourselves through our innate God-given gifts of creativity, talent, and ingenuity.”
“The youth must sit in leadership fully formed and informed; they must take their place as independent and empowered individuals, worthy of being called a Filipino”.
The youth, meanwhile, has a responsibility to “bear in mind that they must lead, not dominate; they must persuade, not coerce; they must be committed to the freedom of humankind and the dignity of the Filipino; they must come to build, not destroy”, according to her. (PNA)
