Philippines needs more activism, not less
WHAT would happen if student activists obey Senator Bato and leave their organizations? In a parallel universe where that’s possible, Bato might achieve his and Duterte’s pipe dream of a studentry that unquestioningly and blindly obeying all authority, albeit temporarily. Why only temporarily? Because Bato would be surprised to know that new activists would eventually emerge to confront the root causes of unrest. Other students would quickly discover for themselves the need for activism, and take up the banner of resistance.
Because if left unresolved or made worse by authorities, the acts of exploitation, oppression, inequality, corruption, foreign domination, and other social ills would arouse public anger, especially from the youth who are always told to emulate national heroes.
Because in the real world, history and reality are clear and straightforward: Youths have always been at the forefront of the fight for social change.
It is in the character of young people that they see the world with fresh eyes, unblemished by cynicism and corruption. Armed with what they learn in and out of school, students and youth see and feel the realities, and always aspire for fundamental change. They look at figures of authority like Bato and Duterte, and they feel only shame and a sense of civic responsibility that something should be said and done.
The modern history of the Philippines is a history of the youth fighting for freedom and democracy. Youths played key roles in the Propaganda Movement, the 1896 Revolution, the Filipino-American War, the anti-Japanese resistance, the fight against the Marcos dictatorship, and in the confrontations with post-Marcos regimes that continued to betray the Filipino people.
Bato and Duterte would like less or no activism at all. Because a Philippines without activists and activism would be a paradise for the corrupt,
the exploiters, the traitors, and the tyrants.
The problem of Bato is that he assumes that young people are stupid, brainless, cowardly, and unable to think for themselves. By claiming that student activism is nothing but a product of brainwashing, he only insults the youth. Students could see in his antics desire to take away their rights to self-organization, to self-expression, to self-determination, and ultimately to freely offer these rights in service to the people and to the country.
For a government that portrays the president as “Tatay Digong,” can we blame his many supposed sons and daughters that they resist and refuse to call themselves Anak Digong? They would rather rally themselves under the name Anakbayan.
Bato cannot continue his drama about reuniting parents and activists. The parents would soon realize that running to Bato would only endanger their own loved ones’ lives, especially considering how authorities demonize and dehumanize activists. The alleged kidnapping might result in a botched “rescue,” with their sons and daughters possibly ending up dead in the hands of “rescuers” who have shown only contempt for what activists do and stand for. Which is not farfetched considering the record of the police.
How Bato establishes his claim that activism leads to taking up arms is funny. He depends almost entirely on “witnesses” dating back to the Marcos and Aquino regimes. Their obviously manufactured stories are riddled with too many holes, and they did not fully disclose their long association with the military and police as “talents.”
Could Bato credibly sustain his seemingly tough stance against the New People’s Army? Maybe. But the people would ultimately see a former police chief-turned-senator merely picking on unarmed, civilian, and noncombatant youths in schools. It is a matter of time before he is told: If you really want to fight the NPAs, you should leave students and schools alone, and go to the mountains to fight the rebels.
Bato’s hearings are resulting in a public relations bonanza for youth activism. Anakbayan is reporting an uptick in what they call walk-ins as more students are signing up to be activists. Same with the League of Filipino Students. There are many saying that Bato’s hearings might help catapult Kabataan Partylist to the top of the 2022 partylist race and thereafter put three activist youth lawmakers in Congress.
This is good news for our people, and bad news only for a few.