Now that the youth have spoken, elders must heed their call

Now that the national tally is complete and the ballots have been counted, the significance of the youngest cohorts’ turnout cannot be overstated.

- ANNA MAE YU LAMENTILLO

Filipino millennials and members of Generation Z, long dismissed as disengaged or apathetic, mobilized in historic numbers and delivered their verdict at the polls. Of the 68.4 million voters registered, 40.2 million came from voters under 45, a demographic majority that has spoken with unprecedented clarity.

This electoral wave did not arise from happenstance but from lived experience: economic precarity, environmental threats, digital transformation, and demands for social justice. Elders in government, parties, and civil society now face a mandate to recalibrate policies and practices in alignment with the priorities of a younger electorate. To ignore this call is to risk governing in a vacuum.