About Young Blood

On Monday, October 17, 1994, a new column debuted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Opinion section. It was called Young Blood, and the first installment was called "We should look beyond the gold" by Augusto Dizon. Young Blood was the brainchild of Inquirer editor in chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, original columnist Ma. Ceres P. Doyo and Opinion editor Jorge Aruta. "We want to know what the young are thinking about. What are their thoughts on current issues? We welcome contributions from the twentysomething and below," read the editor's note. Since then, Young Blood has become a vessel for the voices of a generation. It is a rite of passage for aspiring young Filipino writers, something they need to do before they turn 30.

In the 32 years since, Young Blood has featured the words of call center agents, teachers, lawyers, congressmen, directors, writers and the entire range of what young Filipinos aspire to and what they become. It has chronicled love, loss, achievement, disappointment, life, death, independence, reconnection, the obscure, the universal, what keeps us apart and what holds us together.

Under the watch of then editors Aruta, Rosario A. Garcellano and Gibbs Cadiz, Young Blood represents the best three from the 300 entries received weekly. The Young Blood book series, now on its 7th volume, represents the best of the best, with the book editors choosing only the most timeless and best-written pieces to be released in anthology form every two years.

With the refurbished Young Blood website, we hope to bring the ground-breaking youth column closer to readers and make it more accessible, more compelling than ever. Sign up for the Young Blood newsletter and you would get three newsletters a week, the three newest columns on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Then follow Young Blood on Facebook to get the full Young Blood experience.

Now at your fingertips wherever you may be, Young Blood will continue to define the young Filipino experience for a new generation. Through its newsletter, website, and social media account, Young Blood continues to evolve and grow up—just like the Filipinos who have written and read it all these years.