It’s a word often used and spoken of, but not always achieved. A simple state and condition that all of us desire. It’s wanted by many and begged for by some.

Somehow, it can be the rustling of the leaves in a stone-cold night—silent and calm. It can be the humming of the birds; the buzzing of the bees; the dripping of the rain and; the feel of the rays of the rising sun on your skin. It’s the feeling of hope and freedom that unites us all in a certain grandeur that neither the whooshing sound of the fastest bullets nor the loudest explosions can compete.

Peace.

Yes, the longing for peace. A strong yearning that I, as a young man of fifteen has long hidden in this tanned face of innocence that adults find too naïve to be even told of our country’s pains and sorrows.

I remember the story of the Filipino child who cried his peculiar wails of terror. Wails that were heard neither by his uncaring mother nor by his unconcerned brothers and sisters. Who was willing to listen? Nobody was.

He was rejected, unhappy—and I’m afraid I’m feeling the same way, too.

I always wanted to help our country, had they known?

Would they want to listen to this mouth’s meek words? The words that have long been threatening to come out of this hopeful heart—a heart that still beats and hopes for this country to be saved from the constant bang-bang of guns; from the sea of smoke and gun powder and corpses of guiltless people who, themselves, wanted peace for their own land.

No. They made their decisions not to. Though words were not spoken, it was clear that they never wanted others to interfere. War happened. The state was against the Church. Government was against the armed forces. They had not made their way out. Not yet—because they had not wanted to find a solution.

And what is the solution to all these? Kill them? Eliminate them, corrupt and unjust officials, using bombs—and laugh and cheer to the sound of their shrieks of pain? No. “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” Listen to Mahatma Gandhi, because killing and fighting won’t solve anything.

Should they be persuaded to listen to the voices willing to help? Should they take the hands of those eager to lift them out and give them a way out? Let them humble themselves? Get them down, out of their pedestals?

There is only one solution that is clear—change.

How can this be achieved? Victor Frankl once said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

As a young man, I do understand this. Our country is now engulfed in rivers of crimes and injustice, and other problems that are slowly drowning us—the people. Slowly, it’s attacking us, soaking us into its deep fluid prison. Soon, it will be too late. If we are looking for a way out, we must start changing now.

I understand that change must begin within us. Within ourselves. Then we’ll start to move forward and persuade others to do the same and they, too will spread the word, will persuade others, until all of us have arrived in the right situation and find the right solutions.

Change. Let me start this movement.

But beginning with myself isn’t the real problem. The real question is, “Will you be willing to follow?”

If you are, then you are willing to be the New Filipino. The Filipino who has a face marked with hope and freedom, and love for his country. The Filipino who wants to grasp peace above all in his waiting hands, and wants to renew and heal his nation that was scarred with untamed fear. The Filipino who will remove the traces of graft and corruption, of brutal crimes, and of famine and thirst, that slowly kills. And blood. It shall be your mission to keep our countrymen’s priceless blood from being shed and wasted for nothing. You can make all these cruelties cease.

You can, if you are willing. If you are willing to become the New Filipino, like me.

I will take the first step, you will take the second.

We shall start the change that the Philippines has been waiting for. We shall, together, start the generation of the New Filipinos.

This is not a forced decision, yes, because we have choices. But we must choose what we know is better. We must choose like the way the soaring eagle chose its prey from a thousand others on land; like the way the little boy chose his favorite toy car from other shiny ones. It is through choosing what is right for you above all others that makes a difference, that makes a change.

And what’s next to this? Happiness.

And yes. Peace—at last.

I live in a land of freedom. Now, I, as a young man, who was made and born here—who is willing to help, to change myself for peace, for our country—want to speak freely of this land. For this land. I speak of this because I want to do something. I want to help—to build a strong foundation for a bridge that I will soon build. A bridge for the New Filipino to climb and to cross. It shall be a bridge of hope, of new beginnings for the Filipino people. A brand new chance for the youths of today and for heroes of tomorrow.

Remember, the most valuable change that could ever happen is the change that you shall see within yourself. Begin with it and you shall see the beginning of the Filipino life in a thousand more seeds that will surely flourish and become the trees of a more beautifully hopeful generation.