Collective voice: Feared by the powerful
Asingle human voice screaming against injustices in society is like screaming in the wilderness. But when distressed individuals demanding solutions or change band together, their voice has a power that is more powerful than a nuclear bomb.
Humankind’s history is filled with stories of changes brought about by disaffected individuals who banded together. Think of the downfall of France’s absolute monarchy through the French Revolution, which started in 1787 and ended in 1799. Think of the Russian Revolution, which toppled the Russian monarchy in 1917 and ushered in Soviet rule.
Think also of the Xinhai Revolution, which brought China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, to its knees. Think of the Battle of Seattle, a series of protests in 1999 that disrupted the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference and sparked “a series of international antiglobalization protests and helped progressive movements realize the power of the Internet for moblization and coaltion building” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
The Philippines also saw revolutions. One was bloody, and it was against the Spanish colonial rule in the late 1890s; another was peaceful, and it was against the authoritarian rule of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his family in 1986.
Now, the nation’s attention has been caught by 100 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) of Iloilo District Jail who climbed on a building rooftop in the correctional facility on Wednesday morning, Aug. 24, 2022.
The PDL held a noise barrage to protest the inedible food given to them and to demand the ouster of Jail Warden Norberto Miciano whom they alleged of mistreating them. They were able to climb to the roof while the jail officers were preparing for their regular mass.
Iloilo jail’s PDL succeeded in their protest after they padlocked the entrance leading to the rooftop. Miciano was relieved, and the protest ended on the same day after negotiations with jail officials.
The jail officials denied the allegations, and one of them said the protest was triggered by the transfer of 44 PDL to a new building last week. But these are still claims, and an investigation ordered by Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. can determine the veracity of the PDL’s grievances.
What happened at the Iloilo jail can be called a rebellion on a smaller scale, resisting a person in authority deemed unfit to lead. Thankfully, it was bloodless. Even if they are facing criminal charges or already convicted, the PDL are still human beings. They have the right to be treated as humanely as possible.
If the PDL had been treated right, would they have held the rooftop protest? There’s indeed a possibility that they had been mistreated.
The persons deprived of liberty of Iloilo have shown Filipinos the power of the collective voice,
and the powerful are afraid of it.