Patriotism and The Youth: Will be the Change of Today’s Filipinos?

A Speech by John Marvin D. Cuevas

“A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country.” – Charles E. Jefferson
The Spirit of Patriotism, In General, is showing a Respects towards our country and its People.
The Spirit of Patriotism is a part of our major core values: Be God-Fearing, be a Humanitarian
and Conserving One’s Nature.

Figure 1. The Philippine Flag symbolizes our National Identify.

As one major impacts of what Jose Rizal, Our National Hero said on the Youth: “The Youth is
the hope of our Future”. Manuel Luis Quezon, the first president of Commonwealth said that: “I
want our people to be like a molave tree, strong and resilient, standing on the hillsides, unafraid
of the rising tide, lighting and the storm, confident of its strength.”
Patriotism is started when Jose Rizal wrote his last poem, “My Last Farewell”, made a major
impact to the revolutionists during the Philippine Revolution. The Philippine Independence
against Spain is one of the notable events during the Philippine Revolution. It makes Filipinos
how to be Freedom and Patriotic.
When the Second World War and the colonization of Japanese was started, it is included in the
curriculum that students must foster their national identify, and the teaching of Patriotism,
National Heroes and the National Language (which is called Tagalog in that time).
The effects of Martial Law brought citizens lost to patriotism because of the freedom of its
citizens. When the People Power Revolution of 1986 was made a huge impact of the people =
fostering the Freedom for all.
How can be the Youth, could understanding Patriotism, In the Modern Times?
We should be like our National Heroes like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Antonio Luna and a lot
of our National Heroes who are died for our motherland. They are sacrificing our Nation and the
National Identify.
We should preserve our cultural traditions. Our Traditions like Bayanihan, Pagkikisama and a lot
of our cultural traditions should be retained in the future times.
We should buy locally made products. The National Economy will be supported when we
brought locally made products.

Figure 2. Example of an expo featuring locally-made products.

We should Teach the youth how to be Patriotic. By Teaching our National Symbols, National
Heroes and our Identify, The Youth will be Patriotic as same to us old people.
And lastly but the most important: Respect towards our Nation. Our National Identify will be
strengthen when we respect toward our Nation.
To the Kids of the next generation, this is for You.