Kabataan Partylist

Time to graduate from old politics, says youth partylist

Some three hundred toga-wearing students and youth held a “graduation march” in front of the Commission on Elections to accompany Kabataan Partylist President and First Nominee Raymond Palatino and other youth nominees as they file their candidacy today.

Palatino said the time has come for Filipinos to “graduate from old politics and begin a new type of leadership for the country.”

“In this time of corrupt governance and political instability, the nation needs young, vibrant and innovative minds that will restore integrity and morality in governance and lead the nation to genuine progress and social change.”

“With its new brand of politics – politics of hope, struggle and change - Kabataan Partylist seeks to usher in a new era for Philippine politics, away from the kind of leadership that traditional politicians and dynasties have for the longest time instilled in government.”

If ever, Palatino said this will be the first time for the youth sector to have its own sectoral representative in Congress. He added that the last time the Legislature had representatives coming from a youth political party was when Wenceslao Vinzons and Arturo Tolentino’s Young Philippines won seats in the Philippine Assembly.

27-year old Palatino is considered as one of the most brilliant youth leaders in country. He was chair of the university student council of University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman in 2000 and president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), the largest alliance of tertiary student councils in the country, from 2001 to 2003.

In 2004, he was recognized by the Quezon City government for exemplary youth leadership and was awarded by the United Nations Association of the Philippines as an Outstanding Youth Leader for Advocacy on National Concerns.

Other nominees present during the filing of candidacy were Kabataan Partylist 2nd Nominee and National Capital Region Chairperson Enrico Almonguerra and 6th Nominee Angela Colmenares.

At the age of 25, Almonguerra could be the youngest representative in the 14th Congress. He was the chairperson of the Philippine Christian University student council and the chairman of NUSP in Metro Manila.

A swimmer, grassroots organizer and youth leader, Colmenares finished her Political Science degree also in PCU. Before graduating in PCU, she became the secretary general of the Student Congress of the university and an officer of the Student Christian Movement.

“Analysts doubt the potency of the youth vote. According to them, the youth will not be a significant force in deciding the outcome of the coming polls. This is our chance to prove the skeptics wrong. The youth vote is real and we only need candidates who can inspire the youth with their creative and sensible election agenda,” he pointed out.

“The youth’s participation in the upcoming elections through the partylist system is a reaffirmation of the youth’s vanguard role and leadership in social transformation and is crucial at this critical juncture of our nation’s history.”

“These coming elections, we vote for honest officials, for principled leadership and for change. Now more than ever is the time for the youth to be involved.”

Kabataan Partylist is the largest youth party in the country that will represent the youth sector in the 2007 elections.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 9:31 am and is filed under News and Press releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.