'We Want a Change': In the Philippines, young people aim to upend an election
“Swifties for Leni,” young people who have combined their shared interest in Taylor Swift with getting out the vote, at a rally for Leni Robredo, the vice-president of the Philippines who is running for president, in Pampanga, on April 9, 2022.
VALENZUELA CITY, Philippines — Mr John Benvir Serag knocked on doors in the working-class neighbourhood, wearing his pink “Youth Vote for Leni” T-shirt and holding a stack of flyers.
He has spent nearly every day in the past month trying to explain to strangers why Ms Leni Robredo is the best person to lead the Philippines.
In the past six years, many young people in the Philippines have grown increasingly disenchanted with President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership: Both his brutal war on drugs and his approach to the pandemic.
They have watched men and boys being gunned down in the streets and experienced the mental toll from a prolonged shutdown of schools, two years and running.
In this election, many have come out in full force for Ms Robredo, the country’s vice-president, who is an outspoken critic of Mr Duterte and a frequent target of his insults.
