As the campaign for local positions began on March 28, the Kabataan Party-list challenged young candidates running in the 2025 elections. According to the party, the youth must break away from blindly following older politicians, resist being molded into the old political order, and refuse to be consumed by the system.

The party stated that the ballot is often dominated by names of older politicians who have been repeatedly elected, along with their similarly aged rivals. “Often, they represent dynasties or patrons in national positions,” Kabataan first nominee Atty. Renee Co said.

This practice denies space for “new faces”, except for young people from political dynasties who “inherit” positions. “Since 2022 however, we saw more challengers especially from the youth against traditional politicians,” Atty. Co added.

For the 2025 elections, she stated that Kabataan Party-list seeks to sustain this momentum by supporting its members with track records of serving the people. Some party members are running as councilors in Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, and other areas.

“Through their example of leading campaigns without debt ties to ruling clans or parties, Kabataan Partylist hopes to inspire many more young candidates to resist political grooming in local government that breeds future trapos (traditional politicians),” Atty. Co further stated.

The Kabataan representative emphasized, “It’s time for youngsters to school seniors on the need for genuine social change.”

Kabataan Party-list considers this a significant challenge for their ranks, especially as corruption and patronage politics remain widespread all the way to Malacañang and national government positions. “it is a big blow still to starve the system from new trapos trained to operate it,” Atty. Co concluded.