28-07-2025
Kabataan rep wears protest attire vs. political dynasties, corruption
Kabataan Party-list representative Atty. Renee Co wore a protest dress at President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s fourth State of the Nation Address.
For her first time attending SONA, Co used the skirt she wore during her University of the Philippines Law graduation, with the volunteer artists painting over it. They are Gaia Mauricio of Panday Sining, a youth cultural organization, and Albert Raqueño, a fresh graduate of UP Fine Arts.
The dress features a young Filipina rising from devastating floods to break the seat of power being fought over by local elites propped up by foreign powers, such as the United States and China.
According to a press statement from Kabataan Party-list, the painting is a message of the youth's anger regarding the Philippines' states of calamity, but it also challenges the youth to go beyond resilience and to strike at the political roots of the worsening crisis.
"The youth must rise above the aftermath of disaster, despite still being submerged in floodwaters of social crisis that has swept away basic rights such as education, food security, and other basic needs, and even fundamental principles like justice and accountability," the statement read.
The party-list calls on the new generation to "turn their grief into a fight to end political dynasties and bureaucrat capitalism that turn the government into an instrument for the profit of local elites and their foreign backers."
"Kayo po na nakaupo, tanawin niyo ang tunay na kalagayan ng kabataang Pilipino. Sa mga kapwa ko kabataan, panahon na upang buong tapang na wakasan ang agawan ng upuan ng iilang nagmomonopolyo ng kapangyarihan," Co said. —Nika Roque/Hermes Joy Tunac/MGP, GMA Integrated News
