What are you fighting for?

MANILA, Philippines - As much as it’s fun to sit back and spend time watching episode after episode of Game of Thrones and devoting a huge amount of your time to yourself, it’s undeniable that it’s the day and age of revolution and social change — fought for and by none other than the youth. In the idealistic eyes of the young people, there will always be hope that the world will be a better place. We rounded up nine youth leaders from different universities to talk about their experiences and why they fight for what they’re fighting for.

Guio Martinez

Council member of KRUSADA

Ateneo de Manila University

If Guio Martinez has a goal as a student leader, it’s showing Ateneans that there’s life outside Ateneo. “Students are very privileged to study in good schools, and I personally I find it disheartening that something like this should be a privilege when I feel like everyone deserves this kind of lifestyle and education.” Guio fights for social justice and labor rights, marching from España to Malacañang on Labor Day with his fellow KRUSADA members. In his organization, he promotes a political education program that gives lectures that range from topics such as LGBT rights to martial law. “It’s one way for us to fight for what we believe in, because you can’t fight for something you think you believe in unless you know it.” For the youth who don’t want to go out into the streets, Guio has this message: “If we start asking why you have to do that, that’s a good sign; in asking why you start to realize the grander scheme, that’s when you see the significance of it. Even if you find different avenues, that’s fine, as long as you fight for what you stand for.”

Jules Guiang

University Student Council vice chairperson

University of the Philippines Diliman

Jules Guiang has a lot to say about the state of our education today. His organization’s main advocacy is the “Six-will-fix” advocacy, which aims to call on the government to allocate at least six percent of gross national product of education. “We only spend around 2.5 percent a year, sadly,” Jules says. As the USC vice chairperson, he pushes for full state subsidy because UP has one of the biggest budget cuts. “That’s the call of the council, that’s the very root of our struggle, it’s our right to education.” Given the current issues about the pork barrel scam, he strongly calls for the funds to be channeled to the education sector. He believes that the students must be well educated, because they are the future of the country. “I believe we should prioritize our education by making it socially relevant. As a student, how will you apply your studies to social change? No matter what course you’re in, how will you make your course socially relevant? There are many means you can use to convey your message to society.” Aside from that, Jules also fights for labor issues. “What I want to convey to the students is labor issues are also youth issues, because after we graduate we’ll be part of the labor sector. Their issues will be our issues as well.”

Alex Castro

University Student Council chairperson

University of the Philippines Diliman

When Alex Castro was an undergraduate freshman at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, she was afraid to come out as bisexual. “I was still trying to act straight because I was afraid that people might judge me or discriminate against me.” Now, five years later, she’s a first year student at the UP College of Law, she’s the University Student Council chairperson and she’s no longer afraid to be who she wants to be. “It’s okay to be bisexual. Nothing makes me different from everyone else, that’s why I came out. I’m proudly bisexual now, I always say that I am. I try to make people realize I’m not different from everyone else.” But in a way, she is. Not everyone is equipped with a strong-willed heart and a passion to serve the people. Alex strongly fights for full state subsidy for education and LGBT rights because of her experiences. “I use our facilities every day and I see how deteriorated they are, and I experienced discrimination firsthand, which is why I was compelled to actually fight for my rights. My personal experiences really played an important role in my being a student leader now, in terms of my passion for service, in terms of my passion for the struggle.”

Dan Remo

Sanggunian president

Ateneo de Manila University

Dan Remo’s passion to be a student leader started when he was in high school, when he joined the Philippine Debate Team. “I saw the passion of many different youth leaders from all over the world who’d use their debate skills to try to generate change in their own countries, but what good are the skills I’ve learned as a debater if they’re going to be left for debate?” Since then, he started volunteering for many NGOs that respond to disaster relief, he became active in his community, he became involved in a political campaign and then eventually he joined the student government. Dan is an advocate for the Freedom of Information Bill, Student Rights and Welfare Bill and most especially the RH Law. “I traveled to the different parts of our country when I was part of a national campaign. I went around the health centers and areas and I could see the need for people to have some sort of family planning.” While he believes change should happen, he knows it can’t happen overnight. “As much as this is convenient, we tend to forget the value of the struggle. We want change now, but we forget the value of consultation, we forget the commitment to change. It’s a constant commitment.”

Robert COpuyoC

Ateneo Task Force 2013

Ateneo de Manila University

Robert Copuyoc was inspired to be a youth leader when he joined a theater organization at a young age. “I thought to myself, ‘If you’re able to convey your ideas to an audience in the most clear way possible, you can influence so many,” he says. He has done so in his life as a youth leader, most notably on the Ateneo Task Force 2013. “My job was to get the first-time voters to be engaged politically. It’s more of them knowing they should be responsible citizens, they should be educated voters, and they should elect leaders knowing in that specific framework, going against personality politics.” Aside from being politically involved, Robert founded an organization that is geared towards caring for the elderly. According to him, he feels a close affinity with the elderly. Together with his team, he visits Luwalhati ng Maynila in Marikina and Kanlungan ni Maria in Antipolo. “With my background in psychology, I realized that the elderly are regressing towards their childhood, they’ve been abandoned, they need comfort as well. Some of them have the most enthusiastic personalities, but unfortunately they’re one of the seven marginalized sectors in the Philippines. ”

Robert Hechanova

President of Santugon, head student

manager of Campus Services

De La Salle University

When Robert had to decide between studying abroad and studying in the Philippines, he knew he had to stay. “Where could I affect the most change? Moving abroad would mean focusing on my self-development. Staying here would expose me to a lot of things I knew I could do a lot of change especially being part of the student government.” Robert spent four years in the student government, and in his term serving the student body, he has contributed a lot to La Salle’s development from spearheading the University Week that earned P500,000 that went to their beneficiaries, to lobbying for facility improvement in the university. He believes in everyday heroism. “It’s making everyone understand that you have the capability to affect positive change around you, in your university and your society. It starts with one simple decision, the simple choice of saying and doing the right things. That’s the sort of mindset I want to impart to every Filipino.”

Mariz Zubiri

University Student Council chairperson

University of the Philippines Manila

“In high school it’s all about yourself, but then you enter college and realize it’s not just about you, it’s about what you do for the country and for society as a whole,” Mariz Zubiri says. She’s the University Student Council chair of UP’s Manila campus and an activist fighting for countless advocacies such as higher state subsidy for education, a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented education, labor rights and human rights. “We have a lot of problems in the educational system, but I think one of the major problems is its orientation. We should devote our time to promote nationalism in our education; I think we should recognize our responsibility. If we’re going to excel in school it won’t just be for our personal gain, but ultimately we should bring it back to the people and help them. Mariz admits that it’s no walk in the park being a student leader, but she firmly believes that her passion is to serve the people. When asked what she could change about society today, she says, “I’d like to erase the notion of help done for charity. We don’t help because we have free time, we don’t help become happy when do. We help because it’s our responsibility.”

Migi Moreno

University Student Government president

De La Salle University

Migi Moreno ran as an independent candidate in the last La Sallian student government elections, and to Migi, it was a struggle to share his vision and platform with others. His vision is to refocus. “That vision spans individuals. There are a lot of things that would try get our interests, we tend to lose focus on what we really have to do in terms of our identity and purpose in this world. Everyone should refocus now and then.” Now, he’s the incumbent University Student Government president. He realizes that he won’t be a student forever, but he serves the student body as well as he can and tries to inspire them as much as he can. “I encourage students to try to be the change they want to see early on in school. Given the many changes and disappointments we see outside in society, I feel that as students it’s our goal and responsibility to learn from them, from those experiences we can see outside and try to start the change even early in while we’re inside the university. I believe that the university is the microcosm of society.”

RJ Dimla

RestART

Ateneo de Manila University

To RJ Dimla, art is the key to change. He talks about how La Solidaridad, the arts and humanities and the works of Jose Rizal were catalysts of the revolution. “Art is my passion. Performing arts, music, people use art as a tool for gathering the attention of people especially the youth, art can be sneaky, the subtext can really ignite the hearts of the people, La Solidaridad, ‘Spolairum’ by Juan Luna,’ gave the Filipinos a glimpse of what reality is.” RJ is part of RestART, art appreciation alliance geared towards social involvement and social justice. He uses his creativity to speak his mind about our country. While most young leaders have different ideas about the key to development, RJ believes in art. He says, “Creativity is key to development. We have to find a creative way to attract people and mobilize and contribute to society.” When asked if he could change anything about society today, he says “I want to change how people view politics. A lot of people have prejudice about politics and the world itself. I believe through art and literary work, it’ll be a more informed criticism of what’s happening.”