To encourage the youth to participate in the upcoming 2013 elections, a youth partylist group is set to launch 'Panata sa Halalan,' a voters' registration drive aiming for one million youth registrants.

Kabataan partylist group said that Panata sa Halalan consists of massive voters' education drives and information campaigns in schools and communities.

In Friday's Kabataan Party-list National Convention held at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Panay Regional Coordinator Karlo Mikhail Mongaya, also the fourth nominee of the group, said that the youth, especially those in the Visayas have a significant role in ensuring representation and forwarding democratic rights and interests.

"We challenge the youth to intensify our participation in the 2013 polls and forge greater unities and alliances for our common concerns," he added.

He also added that the youth should level-up with the other marginalized sectors' fight against spiralling tuition increases, exorbitant fees, and the growing unemployment among the ranks of the youth.

Meanwhile, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said that the youth also need to intensify their struggle in the light of the worsening national situation.

"The Aquino regime has promised change for the nation. But the youth has had enough of his lies – we must level up the struggle to assert our rights," Palatino added.

The representative also said that the youth remains a decisive force in the Philippine elections and social change by being a third of the overall voting population in the country.

A data from the National Statistics Office revealed that there are about 20 million youths, aged 18 to 30, in the country.*