MANILA, Philippines – National democratic Kabataan Partylist is seeking another term in the House of Representatives as it filed its Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday, October 5.
After just one term, Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel is passing the baton to Renee Co, lawyer and the party-list group’s first nominee for the 2025 elections. He accompanied the first three nominees as Co said that Kabataan was coming back to continue working towards more legislative victories.
“Our generation has been through the worst. Dumaan tayo sa pambihirang krisis sa gitna ng pandemya, sakuna, [at] patayan dahil sa bulok na politika ng iilan. Walang ibang nakakaunawa na walang ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ na kailangan ng alternatibo kung hindi tayong kabataan,” said Co.
“Parang ang hirap nito kamtin dahil parating mga puwersa ng kadiliman, kasamaan, ‘yun na lang ‘yung choices natin kada halalan. Pero bakit tayo hindi magtiwala sa ating sarili?” she added.
(We went through an extraordinary crisis in the midst of the pandemic, disasters, and killings because of the rotten politics of some. No one understands more that there is no “New Philippines” that needs an alternative other than us youth. This is difficult to achieve because of the forces of darkness and evil, which seem to be our only choices every election. But why don’t we trust in ourselves?)
Kabataan has had a seat in the House since the 14th Congress. Co enumerated some of the causes Kabataan has pushed for, such as free tertiary education, safe opening of classes post-pandemic, free public Wi-Fi, and salary increases for business process outsourcing workers, among others.
“Paano pa kaya kung nagkaisa ang 40 million kabataang botante para sa isang hangarin ng bayan? Tiyak na mas marami pa tayong ipapanalo,” said Co.
(What if the 40 million youth voters come together for one dream for the country? There is certainly more to be won.)
The party-list group said that its first priority next year would be to push for a students’ rights bill, which seeks to further protect students from “repression.”
Kabataan also seeks to file measures seeking to investigate the “mental health crisis” among the youth and online sexual exploitation of children.
Support for impeachment vs Duterte
Co said that Kabataan would endorse an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte following her refusal to answer questions from lawmakers scrutinizing her budget and use of confidential and intelligence funds.
“This is a continued evasion of accountability [and] betrayal of public trust. It is clear that Kabataan wants to remove her from the position,” said Co.
Kabataan is the second of the three Makabayan party-list groups currently with a seat in Congress to file for a new term. Gabriela, represented by 1st nominee and former Kabataan representative Sarah Elago filed their CONA on Friday, October 4. ACT Teachers has yet to file, as its incumbent representative, House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator on Friday.
Like other progressive groups, Kabataan and its members have often been subject to red-tagging and harassment. Still, together with the rest of the Makabayan bloc, they stayed firm in being critical voices in the House, most recently in scrutinizing the 2025 budget of virtually every government agency.
Kabataan joins the growing list of opposition figures who are presenting “new politics” and challenging the Filipino public to stop putting political dynasties into power. – Rappler.com
