Activism empowers the youth
The Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, in the context of its preparations for the 500th anniversary in 2021 of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines, has declared 2019 as the Year of the Youth. The theme it has proclaimed: “Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered.” In a pastoral letter it issued last December, the bishops extolled the example of the young lay missionary catechist St. Pedro Calungsod and Richie Fernando, the young Jesuit who died shielding his students from a grenade explosion, appreciating “fresh and energetic youthfulness” as a gift that enabling the young to commit to serve others while renewing the Church and the world. The bishops also praised the youth for being empowered. Youth empowerment is what my work is all about as a professor of law, governance and politics, and philosophy. I have been teaching for 38 years starting in 1991 when I first taught philosophy as a Jesuit Volunteer in Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro. I am now teaching the children of my students, not to mention the children of my classmates and high school, college, and law school contemporaries. Currently, I teach in 12 learning institutions all over the country, mostly in law schools and in a judicial academy run by the Supreme Court. I also teach political science, public policy and management, environmental and climate change policy, and philosophy courses to both undergraduate and graduate students in Ateneo de Manila. The reason for this scaled-up teaching, as challenging as it is logistically to meet its demands, is a realization that we need a critical mass of empowered youth that will make another Philippines and world possible. Aside from teaching the youth directly, I have also prioritized teaching their teachers. I emphasized this last Saturday when I had the honor of speaking at the Regional Assembly of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (Region 10—Northern Mindanao) held in Cagayan de Oro. I was asked to speak about empowering the youth. I echoed of course the words of our bishops and shared my own reflections of how we educators could help in empowering the youth. I proposed four Rs to do that—we must teach and inspire, provide tools, and accompany the young to RESIST EVIL, REINFORCE GOOD, REMEMBER OUR ROOTS, and REIMAGINE THE FUTURE. We must encourage our students to resist human rights violations and atrocities, whether it’s drug addicts or social activists that are the targets. They must resist the defeatist attitude of this government against China at the expense of our national sovereignty. I hope they will resist the erosion of democracy, among others the relentless attacks on the opposition. We must reinforce the good things the government is doing and that is happening in society—helping the Bangsmoro succeed for example, should be a priority for us in Mindanao, likewise helping newly appointed agriculture secretary William Dar achieve his laudable objectives and participating in the effort to clean up the environment like in the case of Boracay and Manila Bay are important."Resist evil, reinforce good, remember our roots and reimagine the future."
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