YOUNG FILIPINOS should become “global citizens” capable of confronting problems beyond national borders while remaining rooted in their Filipino and Southeast Asian identities, veteran journalist Howie Severino told Thomasians.
Speaking at the 10th UST Ambassadors Lecture Series on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Severino highlighted the younger generation’s role in addressing regional challenges such as climate change, pollution and digital disinformation.
“These challenges require more than national solutions. Cross-border problems require cross-border collaboration. And you, the young people in this room, will inherit those problems. But you will also inherit opportunities that previous generations could barely imagine,” he said.
Severino, who took up history at Tufts University in Massachusetts, emphasized that becoming a global citizen did not mean disregarding one’s Filipino heritage.
“Actually, it means understanding better what being Filipino means in a world where our culture, families, ideas, and communities increasingly cross borders,” he said.
Severino urged young Filipinos to discover the world and become “Global Pinoys” without forgetting their roots as Southeast Asians.
He said their Southeast Asian identity should shape how they viewed the region as a “shared space” for political cooperation, ecological stewardship, cultural exchange and economic opportunity.
Severino also encouraged them to think “glocal,” combining global and local perspectives in navigating everyday circumstances and addressing problems that transcend borders.
“Today, almost everything we publish and broadcast eventually reaches the internet. We have a global audience by default. So perhaps we should no longer think only local or global,” he said.
He urged the younger generation to make its presence “felt” by gaining a deeper understanding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and its member countries.
“The true measure of a global citizen is not how far you travel from home. It is how much larger you discover home to be,” he added.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen de la Vega, who also spoke at the lecture, said young people did not need to undertake grand gestures to demonstrate their commitment to Asean.
She emphasized empathy and sensitivity in supporting and participating in the regional bloc’s initiatives.
“Even if we say that our voices are not heard, you are actually heard if you place yourself in the scheme of things of how you fare compared to the youth in Myanmar, compared to the youth in Cambodia, compared to the youth in Lao PDR,” de la Vega said.
De la Vega is assistant secretary for Asean affairs and director general for operations of the Asean 2026 National Organizing Council.
Severino serves as a consultant for GMA News and editor-at-large of GMA News Online. He hosts the GMA Public Affairs documentary program “i-Witness.”
He is also a co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, an independent nonprofit media organization specializing in investigative and public-interest journalism.
The UST Ambassadors Lecture Series is a project of the UST Office of Public Affairs that provides ambassadors and other speakers a platform to exchange ideas with students and other members of the University community.
Carrying the theme “Empowering Asean’s Future: Youth Leadership, Innovation, and Inclusive Communities under the Philippine Asean Chairship 2026,” the lecture was held at the Dr. Robert Sy Grand Ballroom of the Buenaventura G. Paredes, O.P. Building.
