LIGA NG MAKABAGONG KABATAAN- ZamPen- Statement

The Philippines has newly elected its president [last May 2016]- an icon of justice, patriarchy and CHANGE. Together, Filipinos are brought to new-fangled face of “hope and future”, unlike the previous administrations; a face who well-engaged the common people.

Towards Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, Monday, the Liga ng Makabagong Kabataan-ZamPen, thru a Fun Run, invokes and yearns to bring the voice of the grassroots community especially the youth sector, on their insights and demands in lined with his proposed 10-point Socioeconomic Agenda.

In connection with this important event, the group of young people in Mindanao also addresses the undying burden of poverty due to various socioeconomic policies that contradicts to their real needs and demands which are unfortunately still embedded in the present administration:

·         Privitazation of education, and other rightful necessities that are deemed to be publicized

·         Contractualization

·         Decent permanent jobs

·         Direct and indirect resource exploitation of the foreign investors

·         Extra-judicial killings

·         Climate justice

·         Minimum wage

·         Youth participation in the decision making;

With the 10 socioeconomic policies proposed by Pres. Duterte, LMK stands that the above mentioned issues are still impossible to be resolved since these policies are yet patterned from Ramos’, Estrada’s, Arroyo’s and Pnoy’s. We run to support the premises we laid down. 

Misleading, somehow, that although the new administration claims to be different from the previous, yet reenforcing the ‘old practices’- say, Private Public Partnership (PPP) which encourages privatization of education, health, and other public maintainances supposedly.; continuing the macroeconomic and trade policies, promoting labor exchanges, etc. These types of policies can be summed up to the term neoliberalism. 

It has already been proved and experienced that neoliberalism, if contextualized to the local community situations,  has not proved anything to help the grassroots, instead neutralizes them (through media) to their passiveness and vulnerability level. The solutions that the leaders always assert are not suitable to our developing communities, it clearly contributes and elevates the interests of the capitalists.

Therefore, the young people of Zamboanga Peninsula, in solidarity of all the unions with the same cause demands, expresses that OUR FUTURE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!

We run for a cause! We run for JUSTPEACE!

                Kabataan! Lumaban! Manindigan! Kumilos!