Message to XU Students & Youth Leaders: Mulat na Kabataan sa Eleksyon 2022

 

My dear students, thank you for inviting me to share some thoughts on the youth and the elections. I hope my sharing will inspire you to take on your role as the hope of our country in the upcoming national and local elections in May 2022.  

The University recognizes your role in the elections as crucial during this time when you have 52% of the total qualified voters of the country belonging to the youth group. Therefore, I released two University Memos, one on XU as non-partisan but politically involved and another one on encouraging University community members to get involved in the activities prepared by the Student Social Involvement and Advocacy Office and the Office of the Student Affair or to organize their own activities to help in the work towards discerned, clean, and honest elections.

The awareness of the vital role of young people in nation building may not come naturally and easily to most students. I can understand this because you are supposed to focus on your academic studies and so may not be able to connect well the elections to the country's present situation. But as college students who will become part of the larger society one to three years from now, seeing the connection is important if not crucial.

You may begin to ask these questions, what values do you see as important to your family, your work, your future and for the future of the country? What do you want for your country now and in the future as you aspire to be personally successful in life? 

I am sure all of us would want peace, freedom, democracy, justice, fairness, and honesty. These are universally accepted values. But do you want these values to be alive in your homes, school, neighborhood, and country? We know that all these values will be determined mainly by the local and national leaders we will choose in the May 2022 elections. 

If you choose leaders who are corrupt, unjust, violent, autocratic, known killers, selfish and self-serving, then what do you expect to happen to our country? Indeed, our country and lives will be in misery, with a poor economy, corrupt politics, and a violent and killer culture. 

However, if the leaders we choose are honest, courageous, humble, intelligent, has integrity, with leadership and managerial skills, and clear vision for the country, then most likely, we will have high hopes for our country, having a robust economy, a progressive politics, and a humane and positive culture.

With this simple connection between your role and our country's future, I could say that the future of our beloved country, the Philippines, is undoubtedly placed in your hands. Therefore, be responsible students and be mature citizens of the country.

So please register to vote, then vote wisely, and protect your vote and, if possible, protect the votes of others.

Thank you. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.