I have not always been venturing this path in life. Just a couple of years ago, I was comfortably living in my own bubble of privilege. In fact, I supported President Duterte in his early years in the administration, I was even in awe with Senator Bato’s grit when he spearheaded OPLAN-Tokhang. To add to the weight, I was a Marcos Apologist, I got enraged with Lourd De Veyra when Martial Law Myths Debunked was shown on television. And of course, I was beyond disappointed when we weren’t able to visit the late dictator’s grave in Ilocos before his surprise rites in a space he doesn’t deserve. These are facts I do not take pride in but I do hold significantly the reality that I have learned better.
I have always adored writing. Ever since I was a little child, I’ve been writing my own short stories and my mother would let me recite it to her friends. Reading has always been a comfort, in times when I was out of words to jot down. I have been a student journalist ever since I was in junior high and as much as my articles then were event-centric, there was a joy in service. Perhaps those days were of a different scale in comparison to now as doors have opened that paved the way to a new (at least, to me) form of serving the people by being with them in their struggles. Yet now I write for a greater purpose, not to impress anyone but bring out the reality the Filipino people are facing.
Perhaps there is a sudden shock in the minds of many to think that activism does not equate to terrorism. Considering the age-long historical revisionism that plagued our nation, it is not surprising that the common people would think this way. It is only joining the masses can one truly understand the plight they are going through. Unlike us who have the option to close our eyes or stray away from ‘political’ issues, the people who experience all kinds of oppression; from the farmers, urban poor communities, and workers to indigenous peoples, have no choice to fight back for their rights. They were born at the edge of society, striving every day to put food on their plate and clothes on their back.
I take part in protest actions with the people who experience the government’s attacks firsthand; the Aetas whose ancestral lands are being taken away, the workers crying out for labor rights and livable wages, the farmers whose only call is for a genuine agrarian reform, the jeepney drivers airing out their demand to halt jeepney phaseout that will wipe out their livelihood, and even fellow students expressing their dissent in the neoliberal education system that exists. These are all genuine calls being publicized for everyone to know. I have come to learn that just because it doesn’t affect you directly does not necessarily mean you cannot fight for it. This is a mindset that many youth have today, a kind of empathy that cannot be found in their own bubble of privilege.
These times are becoming more perilous to those who are instruments in championing the rights of the oppressed and underprivileged. Personally, even I feel the growing threat but how much more to the masses in the frontlines? At times like these they are much more empowered even when the State is using all brute forces to silence their pleas.
Now when activists are easily dubbed as terrorists, but the government who has every power to provide for the needs of the people under this public health crisis but instead certifies an unconstitutional bill as urgent. An institution reeking with impunity, with public officials pleading for ‘compassion’ while the rest of the citizens have to suffer grave consequences (one was even shot dead!). In times when we are being robbed of our rights, one cannot help but question, who is the real terrorist? It is truly terrifying but even so I will stand firmly and with utter certainty. I will write for the truth even when the word itself is at a blur and I will proudly march to the streets to air out the grievances of the people. Our edge against is that we have the heart to continue empowering each other to fight against those at the top of the triangle. It is amidst the crossfire and people’s struggle, can we truly get a glimpse of freedom.
If we won’t, who will? If not now, when?