Despite coming from prominent political families, The LAKAS Youth leadership team — composed of Gab Revilla, Nicole Dy and Mika Arroyo — remains grounded in its mission of pushing for meaningful advocacies.
Unity amidst adversity; hope amidst hopelessness — these are some of the ideals that the freshly-launched, non-government organization LAKAS Youth is fighting for. While the group is a subsidiary of the LAKAS party, it maintains its own identity as a non-partisan, youth-oriented NGO focused on bringing awareness to relevant issues such as mental health, access to education, sustainable development, subsidiarity and youth empowerment.
On the fore of its pursuits are three teenagers who hail from some of the country’s most prominent political families. Still, they are quick to remind that there’s more to their individual missions, which definitely go beyond their famous surnames.
At only seventeen years old, Gab Revilla has big visions and even bigger dreams. Humble, responsible and grounded, he plans to take up Political Science in college and is currently a graduating Humanities student at the De La Salle Zobel Vermosa School. Coming from a high-profile clan that is no stranger to controversy, Gab finds that making his own path and identity has proven to be difficult at this time in his life. Nonetheless, this youth leader does not shy away from the challenges of building a platform for the youth minority supporting controversial candidates. Gab, who has a heart for serving others, believes that “a voice is the most important thing in a time where all we can do is listen.”
Nicole Dy, on the other hand, has always been drawn to politics and public governance. Now in her third year of college taking up Political Science at the Ateneo de Manila University, she plans to attend law school for her post-graduate studies. A bonafide youth leader, Nicole’s vision for LAKAS Youth is to empower young minds from varying backgrounds and beliefs through honest and open discourse. Moreover, as an advocate for the accessibility of education, Nicole deems her family’s involvement with public service as a “learning opportunity that allows [her] to have a front row seat to what a life dedicated to serving others entails.”
Finally, as the current LAKAS Youth chairman, Mika Arroyo hopes to inspire the youth to establish their own individuality. Dreaming to be a CPA in the future, she is in the process of finishing her Accounting and Finance degree from the Queen Mary University of London. Mika admits that being from a notable political family has been difficult for her growing up due to everything being highly-politicised. Nonetheless, she endeavours to establish her own identity by forming and speaking her own opinions on socio-political issues. Mika hopes that LAKAS Youth’s powerful advocacies would encourage the youth to engage in volunteerism. She also believes that “respecting despite differing opinions is the key to working hand in hand to achieve shared goals.”
The LAKAS Youth team has been hard at work at conducting community outreaches, creating video content, and engaging their digital audience to encourage the youth to be more socially-aware and, more importantly, optimistic about the country’s future.
LAKAS Youth aims to help the nation through substantial social media campaigns and are eager to collaborate with individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds and political affiliations to combat political divisiveness in the country. This evidenced by the organization’s consistent efforts to reach out to different communities and, most recently, their viral TikTok video encouraging people to love and respect one another amidst the current intense political atmosphere.
