By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Recently, it has become protest galore locally and all over the world. This week alone I saw news of protests in Nepal, Indonesia, France, Italy and the U.S.
Of course, the Philippines had to get in on the action and unrest eventually formed over just a glimpse of what is surely corruption we can’t even fathom in size and scale. A silver lining for me has been the waking up of several youths all over. So long as the youth fight and remain standing, there is hope for the future.
I came to learn that to truly get what you want you have to fight for it. This has been the law that stuck with me ever since I saw my class standing sometime in grade school and achieved a 6th placement in the top 10 achiever’s list. I foolishly believe a better reward would come to me naturally without much struggle on my part. That realization would only help me later on in my life. In recent days, I must struggle and fight off against sleepiness first thing in the morning before the sun comes up and get moving if I want to avoid the teacher’s wrath and arrive to class on time. And no doubt the future will require the same it has always asked of me, effort and struggle.
To see the youth from all over struggle and fight for their future is a wonderful sight to see. Sure, the future is destined to arrive in the hands of the youth but not all people see it that way. Some politicians just want to suck off all the life the future can offer and use it to better their present and ever voracious appetites. In this world, even an inheritance that was written for you, requires you to fight off the greedy who seek what you have and prey upon the coming generation instead of supporting them and preparing them. Sometimes, even the people that should be our mentors seek our downfall and exploit us. The many old and corrupt politicians we have are not on the side of the youth.
The youth must struggle and fight for the future, their birthright. Even if not everyone can sit comfortably with the transitioning of power from the old to the youth, it is the natural course.
Many may fight against destiny but the future can and will only belong to the youth in one way or another.**
