AS THE COUNTRY prepares to celebrate International Human Rights Day on December 10, students and youth organizations have vowed to continue the fight for human rights.

“The youth will never get tired of standing up and fighting for our rights. The youth will never be silenced now that we have found and empowered our voices by being awakened to dire social realities,” the groups composed of students in schools in Manila said.

The students said they are capable of defending their rights.

“Filipino youth continue to prove that despite our young age, we can be of service to the country by using our potentials to be a driving force of societal change and to stand for our rights, especially under a regime who has proven its class bias and consciously chooses to repress instead of heeding the people’s valid demands. Now more than ever, we are called to serve the interests of the masses, defend the rights of one another, and be vocal on blatant attacks on our human rights,” the groups added.

“Being ‘young’ will never limit our abilities, capabilities, and decisions to do what is best for the common good, to stand up against tyrannical powers, and to fight in the streets along with the broad masses who also yearn for a better tomorrow,” they said.

The students said that they cannot remain silent and it is their responsibility to know the state of human rights in the country.

“We, students and youth from various Manila schools and communities, cannot and will not remain silent. It is in our very right to know the current state of human rights in our country. We must continue to recognize that the people have the power to exercise those rights and use it to stand up, especially when injustice is becoming forcibly normalized,” they said.