Youth Empowerment For The Future That We All Desire

Name: SULLA, CHARLES ANDREW D.
Course & Section: AB FOREIGN SERVICE - 201

Subject: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY (PEGN03F)
Professor: MR. JUMEL G. ESTRAÑERO
Critique and Position Brief
Youth Empowerment for the Future that We All Desire
On the 1st of May 2021 (Saturday), a regional youth forum was held. The forum
was mainly entitled; “The Role of Patriotic Youth in Nation-Building”. The event
tackled about on how the youth is the hope of tomorrow, for they are the ones
sharpening their minds and developing their skills in order to lead the people towards a
more promising future. It was also discussed on how youth of today should be patriots –
being involved in different public and civil affairs, other than loving one’s own country.
All in all, the forum was held in order to shape the youth into future leaders who would
establish a more prosperous environment and society for us all.
Introduction
Upon hearing the forum’s event title, what then came into mind was more on
about establishing and practicing different leadership skills that can be used and
showcased for the public. Talking about patriotic youth tends to come with the concept
of character building, such is why the initial idea came to mind. What then came
unexpectedly was that it presented topics regarding the different ideologies that our
society have. It then also showed how and why having differences in ideology could be
a threat to the overall attainment of peace and betterment of our country.
Speakers from various national and international groups, as well as resource
speakers from governmental departments, presented their topics throughout the forum’s
session, namely; Hon. Lorenzo A. Clavejo, Ms. Rica Jareen D. Maravilla, Dr. Robert S.
Kittel, Dr. Edgar T. Tanate, and Mr. Jude Montifar. Through their speeches, they each
shared their knowledge in order to enlighten the youth of today about the different
communist advancements towards unpleasant circumstances. They also discussed on
how vital it is for all of the sectors of our society to work hand in hand along with our
government in order to attain and achieve the different goals that are aimed by our
National Security.
Body
PATRIOTISM
Hon. Lorenzo A. Clavejo stated that the forum is more than just being a meeting,
or a simple gathering. Since that there were a lot of people who attended the forum, it
shows that many also wanted to participate to the overall concept of nation-building.
With that, he also added that “We are Filipinos - we are bound by our country, peace,
and freedom loving concept”, in to which I agree. Throughout the years that we’ve been
colonized by different countries, the concept of having freedom remains in our blood.
We all want to live in a country wherein we get to live a more peaceful and prosperous
life without being constrained and dictated by other people. This also shows why
patriotism is highly prevalent and widespread in the country, for we tend to uphold
ourselves being a Filipino.
COMMUNISM and PEACE
Moreover, the latter parts of the forum mainly discussed about the communist
ideology. Dr. Robert S. Kittel, the Co-Chair of Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Asia-
Pacific, discussed about the different points that counter the concept of Communism as
introduced by Karl Marx himself. He even also included Marx’s historical background as
to how and why he became such, and on how and why he came up with Communism.
He also stated Rev. Sun Myung Moon with regards to his role to the fall of Communism.
Dr. Kittel ended his topic with the claim; “Communism leads to evil, capitalism leads to
betterment”. This claim was then supported by an international lecturer from UPF Asia-
Pacific namely, Dr. Edgar T. Tanate. For him, “communists resort to violent revolution to
attain their goals”. With this, different opinions and claims started to come up. One main
point is that communists only resorted to revolution for the reason that the people, those
in the working class, are continuously being oppressed by the capitalists. It led to the
point wherein the people’s efforts no longer match the compensation that they were
receiving. Another point was that a revolution could not actually pertain to something
violent. A more peaceful and civil revolution can be conducted by the people. Given the
country’s structure, we all know that a violent revolution would greatly affect the
country’s environment, especially given the number of the people who would take part
in such action. As for Dr. Tanate’s last statement, he said that we all must work in
harmony. A give and take action is what we need, along with the belief in God. Internal
revolution should also be done first before we step out to the world. Taking what Hon.
Clavejo stated during the forum, “we need peace for progress to happen”. A country
cannot progress forward and develop if various chaos and conflicts continue to emerge
within. The people should first be able to make amends through peaceful means before
the country attains prosperity, for the people are a country’s main foundation.
SUBJECT RELATION
Lastly, in terms of the forum’s relation to the subject proper, Political and
Economic Geography, we could point out that the forum also discussed about the
importance of having an effective governance, leadership, and societal roles. Political
Geography deals with how governments and countries are affected by their location,
which then include human involvement. The forum told us to be leaders on our own so
that we are able to help and lead those people who are beyond reach of the country’s
central government because of their remote location. The discussion regarding
revolution and labor could be given relation to Economic Geography, for it is where
human economic activities take place. Labor serves as the main foundation and means,
while revolution takes place when the workers’ end does not justify their means. Both
the forum and the subject proper gave highlight as to why it is important for a country to
have its people work correlatively with one another.
Analysis
- Simply being patriotic would not be enough to resolve the different crisis and
difficulties that the country is facing. What we need is proper methods, policies, and
actions to address them.
- We could view that economic status is not the only one that affects man, as opposed
to the Marxist view. There are lot of other different factors as to how a man builds
himself.
- Revolution today is not the same as it was before. Violent revolutions that commonly
include armed conflicts are now usually cause by the invasion of threat groups.
- How much labor would actually then suffice in order for the people to live a proper life?
We could not just let our labors consume our live, because what are we then to live for.
- Attaining peace and correlativity could only be possible when both sides are heard of,
and without rushing to extreme means in order to subdue the other.
Recommendation to the Government and Society as a Whole

- Let not only the women to be heard of, but also the youth, especially in terms of
political matters.
- Peaceful means are to be taken consideration first. Solve things diplomatically at best.
- Excessive usage of force in other departments are to be addressed directly and
immediately.
- It is best for the claims to be heard and addressed, than not and repressed.
- Working correlatively averts the concept of oppressing the other member/s in the
party.
Conclusion
As supposed future leaders of our country, it is best to uphold the idea on how to
equally serve for the public. Let our patriotism be one of our foundations in attaining our
goals in order to have a better environment not only for ourselves, but also for those
around us. We also should not be influenced by our personal motives when dealing with
public matters. And lastly, we should always think of other possible methods rather than
resorting to extreme means.
Way Ahead
As youth, we all still have a lot to learn. We should continue to observe those that
happen around us, for we are sure to get better ideas for the future when today’s
resolutions are not enough. Now we wait, for tomorrow we act.

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Name: SULLA, CHARLES ANDREW D.

Course & Section: AB FOREIGN SERVICE - 201

Youth Empowerment for the Future that We All Desire

Recommendation to the Government and Society as a Whole

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