I would say reading, not only amongst the youth, has been "deteriorating" because books have become a kind of luxury at this age, especially in a Third World country like the Philippines. One of the major problems is accessibility. How many public schools in the country do you think have well-organized libraries? We don't have enough public libraries either. When the majority of the population dont have access it is therefore difficult to encourage people to read. Add up to that the concept of time poverty. People who are not earning much would normally rather use their remaining time out of work to for other opportunities to earn. The same goes for the working youth, who would rather use their time after school hours to work.
Nevertheless, I am positive that the situation could be changed and that the public school system, especially our educators, holds the key to developing and encouraging the youth's passion for reading.