22/08/2026
OPINION | Hope Should Not Hurt
We have all grown up hearing Dr. Jose Rizal’s famous words: “Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan (The youth are the hope of the nation).” We hear it inside our classrooms, from our parents at home, or just out on the streets. Too often, however, the phrase is used to chastise or lecture young people whenever we make a mistake, as if a simple mistake on our part means we are personally failing the entire country’s future.
For us, the youth, this brings an overwhelming sense of pressure. It is deeply heavy to live with the expectation that we must single-handedly bring about the change our country needs. But while some might feel that this saying has been repeated too often, others believe it remains an important reminder of the responsibility the future generations must carry. Either way, it is honestly profound to think about the idea that the moment a Filipino child is born, they are already given a quiet, lifelong mission to help break systemic injustices and reshape our society.
Yet, nearly a century and a half have passed since Rizal spoke those words. The youth of yesterday became old, their hair turned gray, and some have already passed away. All their lives, they held onto that same, quiet promise, hoping they would be the ones to save our beloved country. When a saying is repeated endlessly across generations, it becomes deeply exhausting. It makes us wonder: Is the hope of our country truly a responsibility borne by the youth alone, or does it actually belong to every single one of us?
Imagine the incredible difference we could make if the youth of today and the youth of yesterday united their collective efforts to finally eradicate these recycled systemic issues.
For many years, young people have stepped up as advocates for change. They march on the streets, raising their voices against injustice, and standing up for human rights and equality. Older generations often encourage this, reminding us that we have the strength, the energy, and the passion to fight the battles they used to fight.
But when the youth of today are left to stand alone in these advocacies, a painful divide happens. Instead of being understood, young people are often judged, misunderstood, and labeled as leftists or rebels. Our shared grounds begin to vanish. When young minds stand up for freedom, they are often met with red-tagging and the painful, cynical question: “Is this the supposed hope of our country?”
Why give us the title of being the nation’s hope, only to tear us down the second we actually try to fix the broken systems? It hurts deeply to realize that our passion is only celebrated when it is silent, and that society expects us to carry the future on our shoulders, yet punishes us for taking a stand against the very injustices it has tolerated for so long.
This is where Rizal’s words can become confusing. Did he truly mean that hope belongs exclusively to the young? Or did he mean that those who grew older are still part of that hope, since they were once the youth themselves?
Over time, this beautiful thought has turned into something passive, a way for society to keep passing the same responsibility down to the next generation.
Real change cannot be achieved by a single generation, as if the burden of this country belongs to them alone. A lasting difference requires a collective effort, not just from young people, but from professionals, leaders, and elders who still carry that same youthful fire within them.
We shouldn’t box national responsibility by age, because every single Filipino, young or old, faces the exact same hardships, breathes the same air, and navigates the same brutal realities of this homeland.
The responsibility to fight injustice should not be defined by a number on a birth certificate. It is a shared duty for every Filipino to question, to demand accountability, and to work for change whenever we can. The youth should not have to carry this immense weight alone; instead, we need the guidance of the generations who walked these paths before us.
We shouldn’t just be the hope of tomorrow. We need to be partners of the present, standing united by a single vision to make a real, lasting difference. Because at the end of the day, we are all Filipinos, stuck in a country that is so hard to love, yet even harder to give up on.
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(by Ronnel Cabelos | Plumeria)
(layout by Jeanbee Rose Navarro | Probationary)
