12/08/2026
As often as not, as youths, we asked ourselves, โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ด?โ
But the real question isโฆ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ง๐๐๐ข๐จ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐๐จ? When basic survival becomes a daily struggle, the noble pursuit of sustainable development goals feels like a distant luxury.
This yearโs โ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐โ recognizes the youthโs various experiences from local and national situations, focusing heavily on the Least Developed Countries (low-income nations that faces severe structural hurdles to achieve sustainable development), Landlocked Developing Countries (countries that lack direct sea access), and Small Island Developing States (small island countries that share similar sustainable development difficulties). These countries experience challenges such as poverty, climate change, limited economic opportunities, and inability to access digital technologies simultaneously. Yet, these young people continue to showcase their resilience, leadership, and innovation in forwarding sustainable development within their communities despite the mentioned setbacks.
In the Philippines, despite being called a โdeveloping nation,โ not all young people have access to sustainable development. According to the report shared by the World Bank and UNICEF back in 2023, around 5.14 (12.4%) million children live in extreme poverty, especially in rural areas. The problem in poverty affects other areas of sustainable development such as limited access to education, healthcare challenges and malnutrition, lack of livelihood opportunities, insufficient infrastructure and services, and higher vulnerability to natural hazard. ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น.
The Rhetoricians stand in solidarity with the global call to ensure that the youth are granted universal access to quality education, proper healthcare, nutritious food, a safe environment, and equal opportunities to build a stable livelihood. As an organization, we firmly believe that education must remain a fundamental right rather than a commercialized privilege, especially as many students continue to face heavy systemic barriers that put their dreams and well-being at risk.
Photo by Dennis Sabangan
References:
Jocson, C. (2023, September 13). 5M Filipino kids lived in extreme poverty in 2022 โ UN report. BusinessWorld Online. https://bworldonline.com/the-nation/2023/09/13/545432/5m-filipino-kids-lived-in-extreme-poverty-in-2022-un-report/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). International Youth Day 2026 "Different Contexts, Common Aspirationsโ | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD). United Nations. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth/events/international-youth-day-2026
World Vision Philippines. (2025, September 24). Why child poverty is worse in rural areas of the Philippines. https://www.worldvision.org.ph/why-child-poverty-is-worse-in-rural-areas-philippines/
