‘Filipinos of the Year’ for 2023

As I write this, the deadline for the so-called “consolidation” of our trusted jeepneys is fast approaching. Hopefully, one of two things would happen: Legally, the Supreme Court temporarily restrains the deadline. Politically, the President and Congress do it on their own.

If tenacity, courage, and importance are the criteria, my “Filipinos of the Year” are our jeepney drivers and the Filipino commuters.

With officials who are mostly privileged non-commuters authoring “modernization policies,” it is no surprise that there’s no thoughtfulness and concern about the daily situation of mass transport and the commuting public. The big idea seems to be to sell multimillion-peso “modern jeepneys” which are clunky and not as efficient or as durable as traditional jeepneys.

There’s no debate about improving mass transport. But even the government cannot guarantee that modern jeepneys will materialize by Jan. 1, 2024 everywhere, and that our jeepney drivers will suddenly become rich and magically afford to buy them. The country’s total manufacturing capacity is low – 1,000 units per month, according to the think tank UP CIDS – and it would take years to replace all current jeepneys.

Jeepney drivers, led by PISTON, have held transport strikes to compel the government to be more responsible and inclusive. Commuters are supportive and sympathetic. The fate of both jeepney drivers and the commuting public are tied closely together.

Among all places in the country, Metro Manila is most fortunate because there are trains and bus lines, and TNV services like Grab, Angkas, Joyride, and Moveit. Without jeepneys, what would happen to the towns across the country when these reliable “Kings of the Road” are banned, and the public left without alternatives?

If they take correct action, the high court’s members, President Marcos, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Speaker Martin Romualdez may still change this list and join jeepney drivers and commuters for the honor of being “Filipinos of the Year.”

The runners-up or honorable mentions are many:

Filipino palay and vegetable farmers, and sugar workers who manage to survive even as they endure the intolerable weight of massive importations and destructive policies of liberalization.

Filipino fisherfolk who catch fish in our territorial waters and our Exclusive Economic Zone still do their thing, even as they face threats or actual “offensive actions” from foreign intruders.

Filipino national athletes at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games who won a haul of 260 medals: 58 golds, 85 silvers, and 117 bronzes. Special mention to gymnast Carlos Yulo and swimmer Teia Salvino for winning four medals each.

Pride March 2023 held in Quezon

City,

Makati City, and hundreds of other cities and municipalities across the country. The huge turnouts at the twin events in Metro Manila could indicate that 2024's 30th anniversary of the Philippines’ first Pride March of 1994 (also Asia’s first!) could be one for the books.

Wylard Ledama whose ordination this year to the diaconate of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente made her the Philippines' first trans member of the clergy.

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro for leading the charge in exposing and opposing the confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. This experienced, respected, and multi-awarded Master Teacher emerged this year as a key opposition leader. She sued former president Rodrigo Duterte over a

If we’re organized, we could do more, seize the initiative, and through our collective actions also protect ourselves from fatalism and cynicism.

death threat he made against her, a member of Congress, on his television program.

Former Senator Leila de Lima for successfully petitioning to post bail, and the dismissal of two of the three drug-related charges leveled against her.

Environment advocates Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano who courageously spoke for themselves in an NTF-ELCAC press conference in Plaridel, Bulacan, about their abduction and thereby paved their own way to freedom.

Peace negotiators of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) for agreeing to hold new peace talks. This reopens another arena for discussing and agreeing on reforms addressing the armed conflict's root causes.

Filipino-palestinian refugees who give a Filipino face to the daily violence unleashed on Gaza and the West Bank.

With 2023 ending, here’s to wishing that in 2024 more citizens form or join organizations. If we’re organized, we could do more, seize the initiative, and through our collective actions also protect ourselves from fatalism and cynicism.

"The tyranny of some is possible only through the cowardice of others." — Jose Rizal, Letter to the Young Women of Malolos, 1889