INTRODUCTION
Today, we sign into law Republic Act No. 7808 resetting the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to May 1996.

While this may seem insignificant to some, this event is truly significant.

For one thing, it effectively separates and disassociates the youth elections from the partisanship of the national and local elections, and the heat of barangay elections.

Henceforth, the youth elections will be insulated, at least by an adequate time gap, from all other elections.

By these remarks i do not mean to imply that our electoral practices and processes are so ignoble that we should not risk tainting the youth with them. True enough, our traditional ways of politics leave much to be desired.

But even as we seek to reform our election code and culture, we must also bear in mind that the interests of the youth deserve to be respected and protected.

The Sangguniang Kabataan elections should be more than just another political exercise. In the SKs, we are developing a new, idealistic and progressive generation of leaders — young men and women who will pick up where we will have left off — who will be leading our country long after our shared vision of “Philippines 2000!!!” shall have been achieved.
AN INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE
The SKs are an investment in our national future that should go beyond the claims of the politics of the moment.

I therefore feel strongly that the young Filipinos we elect to the SKs are shielded as much as possible from the pressures, temptations and emotions of the other elections.

But even more importantly, what the passage of this law indicates is that our national leaders today are not merely giving token attention and lip-service to our youth, but are genuinely concerned with their welfare, the realization of their aspirations and a brighter future for them.

The debates on this bill in both houses show how critical the legislators regard the SK as a factor in national affairs and as a partner in our overall effort to build the nation.

And well, they should, for I, too, am a strong believer that our youth leaders must be well-trained, fully harnessed, and be developed to their highest potentials.

Beyond the task of educating our youth through the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), we have launched other major initiatives directed toward this effort.

We have put in place the National Youth Development Plan (NYDP), and we have made the President’s Summer Work Youth Program (SWYP) a year-round effort under the integrated youth program we call “Kabataan 2000!!!”.

And we have already unveiled the integrated national physical fitness and sports development program which aims to develop Filipino youth into disciplined, highly competitive, alert and vigorous citizens and leaders of the future.

This administration is determined to ensure that the country’s leaders who will guide and preside over our nation in the 21st century will be intellectually superior, morally strong, physically fit and technically competitive with their peers in the regional community. They must be equal to the daunting challenges of the new century.

We are privileged as today’s leaders to be afforded the opportunity of shaping and molding that kind of leadership. And we will carry out that responsibility with great care and determination.

As we look forward to celebrating the centennial of our nation’s birth in 1998, we derive great inspiration from our history. Ours, after all, is a nation born out of the toils and strivings of Filipinos who were mostly then only in their 20’s.

Jose Rizal wrote the Noli and Fili before he was 30. Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan at 29. Marcelo del Pilar, Emilio Jacinto, Gregorio del Pilar, Emilio Aguinaldo, Sergio Osmeña and Manuel L. Quezon were all young men when they made their impact in history.

And so today, we call on all the incumbent SK officials whose term of office will be extended until May 1996 to emulate these heroic examples, and use this opportunity to give our people more of their best efforts. We have only so much time to achieve so many things.

I say to the SK: “use that time well, in the best interests of your constituents and our people at large. Prove to us, and to yourselves, that we have not erred in reposing our faith in the young.”

And, through the SK leaders, we call on all the country’s youth and urge them to strive harder to contribute their valuable efforts towards our national vision of “Philippines 2000!!!”.
CLOSING
We recognize that there are many who are still critical of the decision to extend the sk. Some say that the SK is a useless appendage to the Sanggunian of local government units and a great waste of money and effort. A few even say that instead of providing government with the purest idealism, some among the SK are the ones instead who have been corrupted so early.

To you all, I say prove your critics wrong. Hold fast to your ideals, and remember always that public leadership is a privilege as much as it is a responsibility. If your elders have made mistakes, do not repeat them. Think better, do better, for only thus does society advance, morally and materially.

The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that “one generation passes away and another generation comes.” as your President, I am here to guarantee that when my generation passes away and yours assumes its burdens, you shall have been fully prepared to take your turn at the helm of our beloved Philippines.

Thank you very much, and all the best to you.