EVERY Aug. 12, we celebrate International Youth Day (IYD) and repeat a familiar phrase: “The youth are the leaders of tomorrow.” Although well-intended, maybe it is time to stop saying it.
The world’s young people represent one of humanity’s greatest assets. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that there are about 1.2 billion people aged 15 to 24 worldwide — roughly one in every six people. If those aged 10 to 24 are included, their number exceeds 1.9 billion, representing the largest generation of young people in history. In the Philippines, the 2020 Census of Population and Housing recorded about 31.40 million young people aged 15 to 30, or nearly three out of every 10 Filipinos. Using the broader age group of 10 to 24 years old, the population reaches approximately 32.09 million adolescents and young people.
This year’s IYD theme, “Different contexts, common aspirations,” highlights young people in the world’s least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states. Many face poverty, climate change, geographic isolation, unequal access to education and digital technology, and limited opportunities. Yet, they share the same aspirations: dignity, quality education, meaningful work, participation, and a sustainable future.
The Philippines may not belong to these UN categories, but many young Filipinos live under similar conditions. Those in geographically isolated communities, island municipalities, Indigenous communities, conflict-affected areas such as the Bangsamoro, and urban poor settlements face many of the same barriers. Their aspirations, however, are no different. They dream of learning, contributing and building better futures. The greatest obstacle is often not talent, but unequal opportunity. Leadership cannot flourish where education is poor, digital access is limited, or poverty forces young people to abandon their dreams.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminds us that young people are already leading as organizers, innovators and changemakers. What they need is not permission to lead, but opportunities to develop critical thinking, discernment, digital literacy, and problem-solving skills for an increasingly complex world.
That message resonates strongly with Lesson 14 of my forthcoming e-book, “An Accidental Columnist,” now in its final stage of design: Young people are not future leaders — they are leaders now.
Leadership is not defined by age or position. It is the capacity to understand complex realities, think critically, discern what is right, bring people together, and act with integrity for the common good.
Alex Eala, Carlos Yulo, and Hillary Diane Andales have shown that Filipino youth can excel on the world stage. Across the country, young legislators, local chief executives, and other public officials are bringing fresh ideas into governance, sometimes despite political resistance. Bangsamoro Youth Commission Chairman Nas Dunding and many other young leaders continue strengthening youth participation in peacebuilding, governance and regional development.
Equally inspiring are the thousands of young Filipinos whose names never appear in newspaper headlines. Over four decades, I have worked with young people from different regions and backgrounds who consistently exceeded expectations when entrusted with responsibility. I have seen them use community theater to promote family planning, adolescent and youth rights, and the prevention of gender-based violence; help shape the Bangsamoro Youth Development Agenda; campaign against illegal drugs, online sexual abuse, and human trafficking; teach children; assist health workers; organize disaster response; and support farmers, fisherfolk, and environmental protection. They may never receive awards or media attention, yet they quietly strengthen democracy and development. Leadership is measured not by the size of one’s audience, but by the difference one makes in the lives of others.
Young people are also reshaping public life through social media: mobilizing volunteers, explaining science, promoting mental health, encouraging civic participation, and amplifying voices that might otherwise go unheard. But digital leadership also requires discernment: distinguishing facts from misinformation, dialogue from manipulation, and service from self-promotion. Technology should unite communities rather than divide them.
Some young people enter public service with idealism but encounter political cultures where patronage and corruption have become normalized. Even youth organizations established to nurture leadership, including the Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council), can be affected when older leaders become poor role models. The answer is not cynicism, but ethical mentoring, transparent institutions, civic education, and leaders whose integrity is worth emulating.
Leadership grows within an ecosystem of families, schools, teachers, mentors, faith communities, civil society, government and the media. Together, they shape the values young people carry into public life.
Perhaps, the greatest challenge of International Youth Day is not whether young Filipinos are ready to lead, but whether we are ready to trust them.
Trust also requires an intergenerational partnership. Older leaders contribute experience, historical memory, and wisdom; young people bring creativity, technological skills, fresh perspectives, and the courage to question outdated ways of thinking. The strongest institutions are those in which experience and innovation work together, preparing each generation not merely to inherit responsibility but to exercise it with integrity.
The Philippines does not lack talented young people. What it must ensure is that poverty, geography, conflict, disability, or unequal access to education and technology never determine who has the opportunity to lead. We need more mentors who model integrity, more schools and universities that cultivate critical thinking and ethical discernment, and more institutions that reward honesty, competence, and public service over patronage and personal gain.
A nation’s future is not built by preparing young people to lead someday. It is built by recognizing, trusting and supporting the leadership they are already exercising today.