There are more than 180 party-list groups running for Congress this year. You only get to vote for one. All party-lists promise the same things. Education. Scholarships. Health. Jobs. How then do you choose just one from among them?
If you belong to the young generation of Filipino citizens, or if you simply believe that the youth should have a voice in Congress in order to fulfill its mandate of being a part of genuine social change, then Kabataan Partylist is your party-list for the 2010 elections.
Why should you vote for Kabataan Partylist?
(1) It is the only genuine youth party-list group running in the elections. It is initiated by real student leaders, young activists and young professionals. It was founded by genuine student and youth organizations such as the National Union of Students of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students and Anakbayan, among others.
Its nominees are real youth and student leaders that have a proven record of serving the youth and the people in various capacities.
(2) It is the only incumbent party-list group from the youth, by the youth, for the youth. It has only been in Congress for less than a year, but it has a legislative output and track-record that is better than some of the leading presidential candidates this year.
(3) It never confined itself with its legislative agenda. Kabataan has always been active beyond Congress. It has always been at the forefront of campaigns beyond Congress from campaigns to halt tuition increases in universities to campaigns to stop exorbitant fees in elementary and high schools.
Just recently, in unity with state scholars, it was able to stop the 2,000% tuition increase in the largest state university in the country, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Before that, it was able to pressure CHED to issue a memorandum to stop the implementation of the no-permit-no-exam policy in schools nationwide. It was also able to successfully win a campaign to resume and extend voters registration for new voters.
(4) It exposed corruption in some government agencies, most prominent of which is the overpriced medical supplies scandal of the Department of Education last year.
(5) It has always been active in the efforts to help our fellow countrymen especially in times of calamities. This was manifested in our all-out relief drive campaign together with hundreds of volunteer youth groups and individuals after typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng lashed at the country.
(6) It has a broad but concrete platform, not only for the youth, but for the people.
(7) It has a nationalist and pro-people orientation based on the Makabayan Coalition of nationalist people’s organizations and candidates. It never limited itself to youth issues. It has always been active in the campaigns of the workers, the peasants, in the campaigns on the environment and national patrimony, among others.
Kabataan Partylist is a genuine party-list. Many of the rest are just fronts of political families, exclusive organizations and fraternities and wealthy businessmen all with questionable backgrounds and are not truly marginalized. It is the only genuine party-list from the youth, by the youth, for the people. It has a track-record that proves it can deliver on its promises. Many of the rest just spew empty rhetoric that they have never proven to have accomplished.
If you believe that the youth should continue to have a voice in Congress, please vote for Kabataan Partylist (152 on the ballot) this May 2010!
Please email me back at vvillanueva[at]gmail[dot]com if you have other questions, or if you would like to confirm your commitment to vote for our party-list.
Mabuhay tayong lahat!
