Module Ii

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MODULE II

The Role of the Youth in Nation Building

Introduction

The youth, as a sector, comprise a significantly large part of the population. Within
educational institutions, they are the majority. They also possess certain strengths that are
necessary in the process of change. They play a vital role in the society, exercising a significant
influence to the other sectors. The roles they played in the past had caught the attention of the
government and opened the eyes and minds of Filipino leaders and functionaries for needed
reforms in the society. Today, the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building
and reaffirms the expectation of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal that the youth is the hope of
the land.

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Identify the duties and responsibilities of the youth as of citizens of the country.

2. Explain the importance of good leadership in nation building.

3. Discuss the role of the youth in nation building.

Part I. Recognizing the Vital Role of the Youth in Nation Building

Topic Discussion

The Role of the Youth in Nation Building

As can be seen from the activity, each card is to play a crucial role in the formation of
the structure by supporting the other cards. By removing the card, the whole structure
collapsed.

Just as the structure collapsed with the removal of one card, the group or community
where we belong would collapse even if one member, irregardless of his position in the
hierarchy, would not do his part or maybe simply refusing to do what is expected of him.

The importance of one card in building the structure should be taken into consideration.
While it took a considerable amount of time for the structure to be put in place, it will only take
a split second for the three-storey edifice to collapse once a card is removed.

Along the same light, the constitution recognizes and acknowledges the role of the
youth in nation building. It underscores the contributory effort of the youth to community
building. But all must do its utmost best to live up to the recognition given by the state to the
young people of this nation. Just as one card is very important so is the youth in nation building.
No matter how small or insignificant is one individual he/she can still contribute something, in
his/her own little way, towards the achievement of the goal of our nation.

According to statistics, our country is a very young country when it comes to age
distribution in the population. Based on the 1995 census, the total youth population (those
within 15-30 age-bracket) was approximately 20.7 million. This means that the youth at that
time comprise almost 1/3 of the total Philippine population. What more at this present time?
This is the reason why the Philippine Government has placed paramount importance on the
significance of the youth in Nation Building.

In 1870, our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, in his message “To the Filipino Youth,” called
the youth, “ The hope of the Fatherland” and exhorted them to break free from the shackles
that bound their hearts and minds so that they may soar to the heavens and attain their
aspirations. Gregoria De Jesus, herself a great woman and the wife of another Philippine hero,
Andres Bonifacio, also recognized the role of the youth in the society and through her
“Decalogue of Filipino Youth”, she reminded the youth of the 1800s of the Filipino values that
propelled the nation to independence and preserved its time-honored tradition as a distinct race.

A hundred years later, Filipinos continue to put great faith and confidence in its youth.
The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of The Philippines clearly states that the country’s youth
policy in Article II, Section 13: “ The State shall recognize the vital role of the youth in Nation
Building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social
well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their
involvement in public and civic affairs.

Nation building is a dynamic, on-going, always becoming but never quite finished
process of developing and strengthening the nation in the social, political, cultural,
environmental, moral and cultural aspects of life founded on patriotism and nationalism. To
translate this in concrete terms, the CWTSP provides the venues for the youth to be able to
participate in this undertaking by encouraging the youth to contribute to the general welfare
and the betterment of life of the community which many Metronista have done in the past.
Part II. Responsible Citizenship for the Youth

Topic Discussion

The Citizens of the Philippines

Section 1 of the Philippine Constitution provides that the following are citizens of the
Philippines:

1. Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution;

2. Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;

3. Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine Citizenship
upon reaching the age of majority; and

4. Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

Rights of a Citizen

Human rights are the supreme, inherent and inalienable rights to life, to dignity and to
develop one’s self. During the Martial Law years, a lot of human rights both collective and
individual were violated to serve not the people but the status quo.

Our “being human” is the fundamental basis of human rights. Human rights are means
to protect, affirm, promote and realize the value of being human.

These are necessary conditions and situations for the unfolding and fuller development
of life of being human as an individual and as a people.

1. Basic Characteristics of Humans Rights

a. Human rights are inherent to or part of the human person.


b. Human rights are inalienable; thus, they cannot be taken away from anybody.

c. Human rights are universal; they are not limited by boundaries but are recognized by
all humankind.

Human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. These rights
are fundamental freedoms are the birth right of all human beings. It is the prime responsibility
of the government to protect and promote these rights.

Human rights are also laws or rules that bind citizens in a particular country or members
of the international community that have consented to be bound to global treaties such as the
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Covenants on Civil and Political,
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

In the Philippines, the legal framework for the protection of human rights is established,
among others, by the Constitution, the Civil Code, the revised penal Code and the Child and
Youth Welfare Code. The Commission on Human Rights has also established protective legal
measures. The Ombudsman, meanwhile, functions to prevent the abuse of power by
government officials and employees.

2. Basic Principles of Human Rights

a. Equality- Human people are equal regardless of sex, religion, race creed/ political
belief, etc.

b. Collective Rights- Human rights are enjoyed by the whole society.

c. State Guarantee- The government has the responsibility of protecting and defending
human rights.

The universality of human rights does not mean the absoluteness of its application.
Human rights are not absolute that can be upheld under all conditions simultaneously and for
all eternity. They are limited by other human rights. They cannot be used as an excuse to violate
other rights. They are relative in the sense that these are evolutionary and developmental. These
means that a society advances and as human consciousness develop, new rights are recognized,
old rights acquire new meanings, and fulfilled rights are institutionalized.

3. Classification of Human Rights

a. Civil and Political Rights consist of specific obligations of conduct, thus, have very
definite, measurable standards and could be precisely defined. These are the traditional
rights stated mostly in Article III (The Bill of Rights) of the 1987 Constitution.

Our Civil Rights

Civil rights are those granted to private individuals for the purpose of securing
the enjoyment of their means to happiness. These rights include the following:

1. Right to privacy, communications or correspondence ( Section 3,1)

2. Right against involuntary servitude ( Section18,2)

3. Right against unreasonable searches and seizures ( Section 2)

4. Free access to court ( Section 11)

5. Right against imprisonment depth ( Section 20 )

6. Non-impairment of contracts ( Section 10 )

7. Liberty of abode and travel ( Section 6 )


Our Political Rights

Political rights are those rights of the citizen that empower them to participate
directly or indirectly in the establishment or administration of the government. These
include:

1. Right to citizenship ( Article IV)

2. Right to suffrage ( Article V, Section 1 )

3. Right to be informed on matters of public records and documents ( Section 7 )

4. Freedom of speech, the press and expression ( Section 4 )

5. Right to form unions and associations ( Section 8 _

6. Right to petition the government for regardless of grievances ( Section $ )

7. Right to participation at all levels of social, political, and economic decision-


making (Article XIII, Section 1)

8. Right to sectoral representation shall be included in legislative bodies as may be


prescribed by law ( Article VI, Sections 5, 1 and 2: and Article X, Section 9)

9. Right of people to propose amendments to the constitution through people’s


initiative. ( Article XVII, Section 2 )

b. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are rights that cannot be measured readily and
are based on largely subjective judgments. Some of these rights are stated in Article
XIII (Social Justice and Human Rights), Articles XIV and XV of the 1987 Constitution.

Our Economic Rights

These are rights intended to ensure the well-being and economic security of the
individual. These rights include the following:

1. Freedom from hunger

2. Right to employment with decent living wedges ( Article XIII on Labor)

3. Right to autonomous economic development ( Article XIII, Section 2 )

4. Right to just compensation for private property taken for public use ( Article III,
Section 9)

5. Rights to form unions, association or societies for purposes not contrary to law (
Article III, Section 8)

Our Social and Cultural Rights


Social and cultural rights pertain to a person’s freedom to benefit from his
capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. These
rights include the following:

1. Right t dignity ( Article XIII, Section 1)

2. Right to property ( Article XIII, Section 2 )

3. Right to identify

4. Right to self-determination ( Article II, Section 7 )

5. Right to education( Article XIV, Section 1)

6. Right to health and health services ( Article XIII on Health )

7. Right to a decent standard of living ( Article XIII on Labor )


8. Right to be with one’s family ( Article XV on the Family )

9. Right to thought, conscience and religion ( Article III, Section 5 )

10. Right to an autonomous socio-cultural and development ( Article XIV on Arts and
Culture )
c. Collective Rights.
Besides our rights as person, we also have our rights as a society, rights which
belong to each of us individually but which we can exercise collectively. These are
what we call the rights of the people, which are analogous to the rights of the person
and which consist of three basic rights: to survive, to self- determination, and to develop
as a people.
The relation between individual and collective rights needs careful analysis of
the objective conditions that exist within societies. Like in the time of war, collective
rights should be the basis of a united struggle since individual rights are limited due to
the subjugation of once society by another.

Individual rights largely result from the enjoyment of collective rights. In turn,
the enjoyments of collective rights guarantee the continued recognition and practice of
individual rights. Individual rights are means for every person to be human and that
collective or people’s rights are conditions for our humanity to develop or unfold.

Hand-out: Individual and Collective Rights

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS COLLECTIVE RIGHTS

Life Survival
 Health  Peace
 Own Property  Non-aggression
 Work  Participate and Engage in International
 Form Trade Unions/To Strike Trade
 Social Security
 Rest and Leisure
 Move Freely (within the country, leave and
return freely)
 Marry
 Establish a family
 Exercise parental rights

Dignity Self-determination
 Recognition as a person  Equal Sovereign Affairs and International
 Honor and reputation Affairs and International Organizations
 Freedom of conscience, religion, and  Freedom from all Forms of Racial
opinion and expression Discrimination
 Seek, receive, impart information  Political Independence
 Peaceful assembly  Freedom from the following:
 Equal treatment Colonialism
 Privacy in family, home and Neo-colonialism
correspondence Alien domination and
 Freedom from the following: Intervention in national affairs
Slavery  Sovereignty over Natural Resources and
Torture Economic Activities
Cruel, Degrading, and Inhuman  Freedom to Choose or Change Social,
Punishment, Arbitrary arrest, detention, Political, Economic and Cultural Systems
and Exile
 Presumed Innocent (of crime or wrong
doing)
 Fair trial

Development Development
 Education  Choose the Goals and Means of
 Share in Cultural Life of Community Development to Industrialize the Economy
 Form Associations  Social and Economic Reforms
 Live in National and International Order  Benefit from and Contribute to Scientific
and Technological Advances in the World
 Reparation and Retribution for Exploitation

(Source: Renato Pasimio, The Philippine Constitution, 2000)

Activity 2 - Building an Edifice

1. Individual activity. Document your work using video presentation

2. Prepare 30 pieces of cards.

3. Attempt to build an edifice using the cards within five (5) minutes.

4. The following rules shall be observed.

a. Talking is not allowed. Communication must be non-verbal


b. The cards cannot be taped, stapled, torn, folded and/or pasted.
c. You can ask somebody to record while the activity.

5. After you have successfully erected the three-storey edifice, discussion with the following
guide questions:

a. How many times did you attempt to build the edifice?


b. Describe the feelings when the structure fell down as you attempted to put a card to
complete the structure?
c. What will happen if one pulls a card from the edifice?
d. As part of the youth sector, how can you as individuals and as a group contribute to
nation building?
a. What can you do to raise your awareness regarding societal concerns?
b. Make concrete proposals on how you can contribute to nation building?

Worksheet No. 3

Case analysis:

1. A militant peasant group held a series of protest rallies against a Department of Agrarian
Reform order, which allows the conversion of agricultural land into real state subdivision.
In one of their rallies in front of the DAR office, the police gave the group an ultimatum
that they should disperse by 6 PM. The peasants, who intended to stay the whole night for
a vigil and not recognizing the police warning, continued holding their programs, chanting
slogans against DAR officials and denouncing the memorandum order. At exactly 6 PM
after repeated warnings, the police violently dispersed the peasants by clubbing some of
them and will fully firing their guns towards the protesters.

Is the dispersal justifiable given by the warning? If not, what is the right being denied by
the law enforces and what should be done to them?

2. On 20 September 2000, 12 member of a cause-oriented group, who were preparing for the
September 21 rally to mark 28thyear of the declaration of Martial law, were arrested by the
Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces in an alleged safe house Quezon City. The arrest
was made on the strength of a search warrant issued by a Quezon City Judge. Allegedly
seized during the raid were firearms, grenades and rounds of ammunition. Charges of illegal
possession of firearm ammunition and explosives were prepared against the 12.

The arrested denied the charges. They filed counter charges on the raid. They said it was
illegal since the arresting team had no nametags. They questioned the manner by which the
raid was conducted and accused the ISAF agents of planting the firearms. They said the
ISAF agents barged into the said office, handcuffed the 12, and told them to lie down on
the floor. They were not allowed phone calls, were blindfolded and shouted at whenever
they complained. Accordingly, two people listed in the warrant were not in the office during
the raid.

If you were one of those arrested what argument would you use to be freed from the
charges?
What legal basis would you use to support your argument? What should be done to the
arresting team?
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