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Philippines – Youth Political Participation

#Research on Youth Political Participation

Democracy in the Philippines has transformed into what some observers describe as an authoritarian political system. Since mid-2016, human rights and civil liberties have significantly deteriorated, while corruption remains endemic in the country1. Freedom of speech and assembly have been repeatedly hindered, and opposition groups have faced harassment and violence. Attempts at political reforms have proven unsuccessful, with a long history of political dynasties undermining state accountability. 

Despite this recent democratic backsliding, the Philippines has been one of the most dynamic economies in the Southeast Asian region with a growing middle class, decreasing poverty rates, and significant remittances inflow. A key advantage lies in the Philippines’ large and youthful population, with one in three Filipinos being between 15–30 years old, contributing to a thriving labour market2. This demographic presents an opportunity for the nation’s democratic future.

Understanding youth-focused policies and initiatives

The National Youth Commission: The Philippines has implemented several youth participation mechanisms and programmes. The National Youth Commission (NYC) plays a pivotal role in the Philippines’ approach to youth affairs. Established in 1995 by the Youth in Nation-Building Act, the NYC serves as the main policymaking body on youth issues, coordinating all youth-related institutions, programmes, projects, and government activities. It is responsible for formulating national policies on youth in coordination with youth groups, conducting research, and establishing consultative mechanisms between the government and the youth sector. While it is attached to the Office of the President, the Commission is described as independent and autonomous in its functions3. The NYC comprises five commissioners and a chairman appointed by the President from a list of three to five nominees submitted by youth-led and youth-serving organisations. The day-to-day operations and effective implementation of the policies promulgated by the Commission are supervised by the executive director, while several government departments perform advisory functions. To ensure that the youth perspective is incorporated into the Commission’s work, the law stipulates the permissible age limits of the chairman, executive director, and commissioners. Throughout their incumbency, the chairman and the executive director shall not be older than forty-five years, and the age of commissioners cannot exceed forty years. The key programmes of the NYC are outlined by the Youth in Nation-Building Act and include the National Youth Parliament, which is a two- or three-day convention of youth leaders every two years, and a National Youth Volunteer Programme, where the NYC acts as an intermediary between interested youth and civil society organisations needing volunteers. Application to both programmes is open to all interested Filipino youth.

Philippine Youth Development Plan: The NYC regularly reviews and updates the Philippine Youth Development Plan (YDP), which serves as a guiding framework for youth development programmes and policies. The most recent version, YDP 2017–2022, builds on the foundations laid by its predecessors. In the YDP 2005–2010, youth participation took on a crucial significance, prioritising active youth involvement in planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating youth-oriented programmes, as well as the integration of youth perspectives into both local and national development strategies. The YDP 2012–2016, in turn, expanded the concept of participation by focusing not only on traditional forms of political participation but also on youth engagement in development and civic life. With its growing centrality across policy documents, participation evolved from a thematic element to a core principle that underpins the entire strategy of YDP 2017–2022. The main objective is to increase participation in nine areas that emerged during the consultation process. The Centres of Participation include health, education, economic empowerment, social inclusion, governance, peacebuilding, citizenship, environment, and global mobility4. To help realise the NYC’s vision of “enabled, involved, and patriotic youth realising their aspirations anchored on integrity and compassion5”, a set of concrete activities was presented along with monitoring metrics and a list of duty bearers at local and national levels translating the plan into action. The suggested ways to improve participation in each area are exemplified by providing a sample of past and current activities implemented by diverse actors, including local and national governments. The Youth in Action (Yo-Act) Programme, encourages youth to join training and civic activities to foster camaraderie, was mentioned under the Active Citizenship area. It is worthwhile to note that the YDP 2017–2022 also lists specific legislative changes required to achieve its objectives. The vulnerable groups that are given special attention include youth with disabilities, indigenous youth, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) youth. The YDP also assigned priority to the issues of violence against women and gender equality.

Sangguniang Kabataan: Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) are local youth councils in each of 42,000 barangays – the smallest government units in the Philippines. The structure was established by the ​​Local Government Code of 1991. SK officials are elected for three-year mandates by their peers at the barangay level and are responsible for representing youth in the local government. The age of eligibility is 15–24 years old, while the age of voters ranges from 15–30 years old6. The SK officials federate to higher governance levels, choosing presidents who represent the youth at the municipal and provincial government levels. Rather than an organisation, the SK is a governing body voted into office by the youth constituency. It is a platform for shaping policies and decisions taken at the local level. By granting youth power and authority similar to those held by elected officials at the barangay, municipal, or provincial levels, the SK structure promotes active youth involvement in community decision-making by addressing youth-related matters and providing youth perspectives on diverse local issues. When developing youth activities in barangays, Sangguniang Kabataan are required to follow the strategic areas outlined by the Philippine Youth Development Plan.

Policy implementation

Consistent efforts: The Philippines has been actively engaging youth since the 1990s and has put considerable effort into the implementation and monitoring of youth policies7. The NYC implements all the programmes outlined by the Youth in Nation-Building Act, and conducts various additional activities, such as youth-led communication campaigns, programmes focusing on facilitating internships for out-of-school youth, and more. The NYC publishes yearly youth statistics tracking the progress on youth development indicators connected to the Philippine Youth Development Plan8. Mid-term and final evaluations of the YDP were conducted in 2019 and 2023, respectively. These well-documented evaluation efforts, along with a regularly updated website with information on youth rights, easily accessible guidelines, and a long list of youth opportunities, form an essential source of information and a useful coordination platform for young Filipinos and stakeholders from the youth sector. The evolving trajectory of the Philippine Youth Development Plans reveal a progressive amplification of the role of participation. This direction mirrors the growing recognition of youth as active agents in shaping national progress. The heightened emphasis on participation aligns with global trends recognising the multifaceted contributions of youth and their potential to drive sustainable development. 

Strengthening participation mechanisms: The SK serve as the main platforms for youth to participate in decision-making processes and address local and national issues. For years, the SK faced criticism in relation to its inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and politicisation, with some observers calling it a breeding ground for corruption9. Following protests of the Filipino youth and the wider population10, the government undertook a comprehensive reform in 2015. The new law revitalised SKs with significant changes, including anti-political dynasty initiatives, financial independence, and mandatory and continued training of SK officials. According to the provisions, the SK officials were provided with 10% of the barangay budget to be able to implement programmes addressing local youth needs11, access to training and capacity development programmes organised by the NYC, and more equal access to these opportunities. The level of attention and resources that the SK dedicates to each YPD 2017-2022 Center of Participation varies and is connected to the ground’s context. Following the campaign that the Duterte administration was working on, some SKs have focused on the war against drugs and substance abuse12, which might indicate its susceptibility to political influence and manipulation. However, in most cases, the SK tried to leverage youth energy and the need for group activities by organising sports and games. An independent evaluation carried out by Ateneo de Manila University in 2022 indicated that the SK Reform Law has indeed strengthened meaningful youth participation. It also identified some further fine-tuning is required to ensure that the innovative reforms are fully executed, with the need to provide more training opportunities to SK officials being particularly urgent13. 

Accessibility and inclusivity issues: It is essential to acknowledge that challenges remain in the implementation of youth policies. Lack of consistent political support resulting in insufficient funding allocated to the NYC, especially for reaching youth in remote areas of the country, hinders the operationalisation and inclusivity of youth initiatives14. The influence of political dynasties in certain localities remains a contentious issue that requires sustained efforts to level the playing field and provide equal opportunities for all young people. 

Key successes

Shifting power to youth: Despite the challenges connected to the state of the Philippines’ democracy that inevitably have also penetrated the youth sector, many policy initiatives have proven successful in improving youth political participation. The establishment of financially independent SKs has empowered young leaders at the local level to implement programmes catering to the needs and issues of their peers. This autonomy and financial support have allowed them to develop truly youth-led initiatives and programmes, ensuring that youth voices are represented in governance. To use the words of Ms. Maria Theresa O. Llorente, an SK official:

“with this kind of youth participation, you are allowing the community to know more about what are the pressing issues that our young people are experiencing, and at the same time what are the things that we can do to improve it and how we can solve this through young people’s minds15.” 

Better representation of young women: It is important to mention that a larger percentage of young women are elected as SK officials compared to their adult counterparts. In the 2018 local elections, out of 41,109 elected SK Chairs, 65% were male and 35% were female. For the elections involving adults, out of the 41,914 newly elected barangay key officials, 80% were men and 20% were women16. Despite a persisting gender gap in political representation in both age groups, higher representation of women as SK officials can be linked with the successful implementation of the NYC’s Gender and Development Policy, formulated in 2014. The policy institutionalised the mainstreaming of gender perspective in all youth programmes and policies. This progress suggests that efforts to empower young women to engage in leadership roles are yielding positive outcomes, potentially contributing to more balanced gender dynamics in future political spheres.

Young Parliamentarians: The Philippines stands out with a relatively high number of young members of parliament, with 20 out of 311 MPs below 30 years old. This has earned the country a top score in the region and a high ranking on the global stage17. This is especially significant considering that the minimum age of eligibility for candidacy is 25, which is above the world average. This outcome may be associated with positive results of the implementation of youth development policies, and a conducive environment for youth participation in public affairs in general. For example, many government-initiated trainings for SK officials focused on parliamentary procedures, including mandatory governance training delivered to 3190 SK officials in 201818. 

This case country is taken from a comprehensive examination of successful youth-led policy initiatives drawing from the insights of a scoping study “A comparative analysis on National Youth Policies”.

Read the full scoping study on Youth Political Participation here

This study is supported by a European Union-funded project called WYDE Civic Engagement led by EPD that aims to improve the inclusion of Youth in all levels of democratic participation at the national, regional and global scales.  The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position.

  1. Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2022 Country Report — The Philippines, (Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2022). ↩︎
  2. National Youth Commission, 2021 Youth Statistics Update (Quezon City: NYC, 2022). ↩︎
  3. The Philippines, Congress of the Philippines. Youth in Nation-Building Act, RA 8044, adopted July 25, 1994. ↩︎
  4. NYC, Philippine Youth Development Plan 2017-2022 (National Youth Commission, 2017). ↩︎
  5.  Ibid. ↩︎
  6. The Philippines, Congress of the Philippines. Local Government Code, RA 7160, adopted October 1, 1991. ↩︎
  7.  Interview with Maria Theresa O. Llorente, SK official and former Federation President for all the SK chairpersons for Tagaytay City. ↩︎
  8. National Youth Commission, 2022 Youth Statistics Update (Quezon City: NYC, 2023). ↩︎
  9. National Youth Commission, Sangguniang Kabataan Operations Manual (National Youth Commission, 2017). ↩︎
  10. “Challenge to youth: Break away from rotten system,” INQUIRER.net, January 30, 2016, https://opinion.inquirer.net/92443/challenge-to-youth-break-away-from-rotten-system.
    ↩︎
  11.  For instance, the budget for 2023 of Maria Theresa O. Llorente is PHP 860,000, which is roughly EUR 14,000 ↩︎
  12. Marc Anthony Torres, Assessment of Enabling Environment for Youth Participation in Peacebuilding and Governance in Region X, XI, XIII and Mainland BARMM (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, 2022).
    ↩︎
  13. Leon Flores et al., “Youth Political Participation and Governance in the Philippines 5 Years Since the Ratification of the SK Reform Law,” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4024887.
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  14.  Interview with the National Youth Commission ↩︎
  15.  Interview with Maria Theresa O. Llorente, SK official and former Federation President for all the SK chairpersons for Tagaytay City ↩︎
  16. COMELEC, Report on 2018 BSKE Sex-Disaggregated Data (COMELEC, 2019). ↩︎
  17.  Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Data on age: By country,” Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform, accessed August 31, 2023, https://data.ipu.org/age-brackets?sort=desc&order=%%2040%20or%20under. ↩︎
  18. Dennis Baguio, “Sibugay SK officials undergo governance training,” May 17, 2018, https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1035587. ↩︎