When Cardinal Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), stood before the crowd at the EDSA People Power Monument last Sept. 21, 2025, he invoked an urgent reminder from Scripture: “Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as serpents and in-nocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

His call was addressed in a special way to the Filipino youth upon whose shoulders now rest the onus of the unfinished mission of People Power. Their awesome task is to serve as the backbone of the resistance movement against corruption and plunder.

This exhortation did not come in isolation. Just days earlier, the CBCP issued its pastoral letter, Beyond Survival, a sobering document that calls attention to the urgency of undertaking three concrete lines of action: (1) reject patronage politics, (2) support an independent probe into the ghost flood control projects, and (3) demand justice, not impunity.

Taken together, these are not mere institutional reforms; they are moral imperatives. They are a summons to discipleship in the public square.

The biblical peg could not have been more apt. In Luke 19:5, Jesus calls Zaccheus, the tax collector, to come down from his perch. Long complicit in corrupt systems, he repents by pledging restitution. His story is proof that no one is beyond conversion, but also that authentic repentance must involve concrete acts of justice.

In Matthew’s gospel, we discern the call for balance. The followers of Christ must combine shrewdness with innocence—astute in recognizing the tactics of the corrupt, yet steadfast in moral integrity (Matthew 10:16). In a political landscape riddled with patronage and deception, this dual posture is precisely what the youth must cultivate. They cannot afford to be naïve, but neither must they fall into the cynicism and compromise that have corrupted generations before them.

Patronage has long been the default grammar of Philippine politics. Its telltale signs: loyalty purchased with favors, votes exchanged for tokens, appointments made not for competence but for convenience. For the youth, rejecting patronage means redefining political engagement, more than declining a handout. It is about refusing to normalize transactional politics on campus, in student councils, and in youth organizations. And as they take on this responsibility, they acknowledge their civic duty to adhere to the principles of merit, transparency, and accountability that are non-negotiables in leadership.

Patronage politics cannot be dissolved overnight, but resistance to its enticements can be mounted. Each refusal to sell one’s vote, each insistence on merit-based leadership, each small act of resistance weakens the cycle.

The CBCP’s demand for an independent probe resonates with the youth because it demands truth untainted by political interest.

Supporting such a probe requires vigilance. Students and young professionals must harness their digital lit-eracy, fact-checking skills, and social media networks to keep public attention fixed on the case. By making truth-telling a habit and exposing disinformation, the youth can ensure that no whitewash will pass unnoticed.

The deepest wound in our national life is not just corruption but the impunity that protects it. The spectacle of officials caught in scandal yet re-elected, reappointed, or rewarded has numbed many into resignation. The bishops’ call is clear: justice delayed is justice denied, and justice denied breeds unrest.

Here the youth must recognize their prophetic role. They are called not only to raise their voices in rallies but also to prepare themselves for lifelong commitments in law, public service, investigative journalism, and civil society. Their demand for justice cannot stop at slogans; it must mature into institutions, systems, and vocations that defend the common good.

The rallies at Luneta and EDSA serve as timely reminders that People Power is not a relic but a living force whenever citizens claim agency over their nation’s destiny. For the youth, the unfinished mission of People Power is to prove that democracy’s lofty ideals are not doomed to descend to the shoals of corruption and im-punity.

The Philippines has a chance to avoid that path—if reforms are adopted now. An independent commission on infrastructure, crafted through legislation and empowered with genuine oversight and prosecutorial teeth, could be one such reform. By protecting public funds and ensuring transparency, it would help redeem govern-ment’s trustworthiness and prevent the people’s anger from erupting into civil unrest.

To be clever as serpents and pure as doves is no easy mission. It calls for discernment, courage, and resili-ence. But history shows that Filipino youth, from the Propaganda Movement to the First Quarter Storm to ED-SA, have always risen to the moment. Today’s crisis is no different.

The bishops’ Beyond Survival letter and Cardinal David’s call are not merely ecclesial pronouncements. They are invitations to a generation standing at a crossroads to take up the hard but hopeful task of building a just nation while rejecting cynicism.

The mission is clear. The youth must be vigilant against deception, unyielding against corruption, and un-wavering in their pursuit of justice. In their hands lies the promise that People Power, born four decades ago, will not only survive but flourish anew.

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