21 Guns: On Placards and Strained Voices

Guest blog post by Dazen Dawn P. Lariza*

Article first published on Central Echo, October 2012 edition.

Under the striking heat of the burning sun they stand clothed in sweat-drenched fabric and glistening faces that speak of courage and anger. With fists held high, they fight oppression, not with grenades and bombs and nuclear weapons but with their right to be loud, their right to be heard, their right to be free etched in placards and streamers that cry “CHANGE” and “JUSTICE.”

Activism has become the reason for enlightenment in many dark periods in our history such as Martial Law. As the government resulted to all sorts of actions in order to suppress their freedom, a new revolution was created through groups of Filipinos, especially students, who fought for their rights. The death of thousands created a ripple of events that brought forth a peaceful war of words and prayers which ended the dictator’s reign, hence, the reason why student activism still prevails in our present society.

Some may wonder why students choose to become activists and do things that may be considered “acts of rebellion.” Well, you’d have to think like an activist and learn to sympathize with what they fight for in order to understand what they do. Oikos Ecological Movement and League of Filipino Students (LFS) member Jan Pachoco didn’t understand the reason why student activists resulted to such actions until he got to know them and the reason behind their actions and eventually decided to join in the crowd.

“Actually at first, when I see activists on the streets I wonder why they do such things and why they question and blame the government for all the crises faced by our society. But when I got to know them, my mind was opened to the sad realities they see,” he said.

The life of being a student activist is not an easy road. People misjudge you; your time has to be divided, and you have to keep secrets from people close to you if they turn against you and your beliefs. Student activists have far greater issues than picking an outfit for College Night of leveling up your character on League of Legends.

According to Jan, being a student activist has its demands. One of which is sacrificing time to study the different issues which confront the present generation. “We cannot make a concrete analysis and solution to the problems if we do not know the issue,” he said, adding that such a sacrifice is not a big deal because “if we were truly committed to the principles we would not hesitate to sacrifice a little for the good of every Filipino.”

Aside from that comes the pressure of some parents on their children to stop involving themselves in student activism. Jan said it is the greatest issue most of his colleagues have to face. They have to make their parents and families understand that such actions are note merely for their own good but also for the family. With this, Jan quoted a line from Renato Constantino saying, “If parents of today do not march with the youth, they will be left behind and will deserve only the censure of history. If the youth fail to enlist the active participation of other sectors of society, their movement will suffer from a fatal distortion.”

Other than those stated above, student activists have to face the watchful eyes of their own Universities’ administrations especially on those coming from the LFS who oppose tuition fee increases and the likes. Various administrations such as those in the University of the Philippines take extra effort in trying to get rid of them.

In a statement posted on LFS.ph in December 7, 2010 by then UP Aterisk member Dino Pineda, he had said “We thought we were dying. We thought student activism had gone down the slope, and had become irreconcilably ‘uncool’ for the generation.” Dino stated actions which their administration did to silence them and their efforts in fighting against this. He ended his statement with this line, “More and more, we are seeing how this Administration is trying to kill us. Yes, we are dying. But we are not dying without a fight.”

Contrary to what others believe in, their efforts in fighting for social change are not useless. From rallies, State of the Youth Addresses, writing in print to spray painting stencils of a hangman tied to a yellow noose and more, these student activists may not always get what they want but their voices and opinions do get heard a lot. Through thousands of students marching against budget cuts on Education, a raise on budget happened. According to Jan, the Anti-No Permit, No Exam Policy bill is already being recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the latest protest against the Cybercrime Law has been issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). So who’s to say that their screams of rage go to waste?

Yes. They are often a common sight. You find them in clusters on streets, government centers, and business firms screaming out their rebellion, fighting for what they believe is right in an unjust society. Whether they be frowned upon by society or be understood by those who sympathize with what they feel, they wouldn’t really care, because activism is not meant to be understood by people who remain ignorant to what they believe in. Activism is meant for those who feel the need to be heard by a society that remains deaf to those who cry for freedom and equality. Activism is for those who believe that freedom is not an option.

Freedom is a gift. Fight for it.

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*Dazen Dawn is  News Editor of Central Echo. She is 2nd year BS Psychology student of Central Philippine University, Iloilo City, Philippines.

Lord’s Prayer: Prayer for Development

The breaker in the previous blog was a prelude to the transfer of related posts from my other sites. Integrating my pastoral studies with learnings from social work, I discovered that the model prayer taught by Jesus the Christ is essentially a prayer for development. That is, when we analyze the Lord’s Prayer according to the three core values of development.

Michael Todaro identifies the trilogy as life sustenance, self esteem and freedom from servitude. Life Sustenance connotes the ability to provide basic necessities. A basic function of all economic activity, therefore, is to provide as many people as possible with the means of overcoming the helplessness and misery arising from lack of food, shelter, health, and protection.

Self Esteem implies being a person with a sense of self-worth and self-respect, of not being used by others for their own needs. All people and societies seek some basic form of self-esteem. Call it by other name, authenticity, identity, dignity, respect, honor or recognition, the essence is still the same. Its nature and form may vary from society, and from one culture to another.

Freedom from Servitude, on the other hand, means the ability to choose. This refers to the fundamental sense of freedom or emancipation from alienating conditions of life. It covers freedom from the societal servitude of men to nature, ignorance, other men, misery, institutions, and dogmatic beliefs. Freedom also involves the expanded range of choices and their members together with the minimization of external constraint in the pursuit of some of social goals, which we call ‘development’.

Let us now relate these values to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:7-13, as referred to traditionally. Although, in the biblical context, the real Lord’s Prayer is found in John 17. The prayer in the gospel of Matthew is a standard prayer, a model prayer. It has two parts which summarize the commandments and reflect the model of relationship. In a way, it speaks of the spirituality which Jesus taught – personal and social, collective or communal spirituality.

The First Part pertains to our Relationship with God: "Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven". Take note of the use of plural words in the prayer: our, we, us. It reveals the inclusiveness of Jesus as against the exclusivist attitude which he abhors. He wants us to be generous, not selfish.

The second part is model of relationship with humanity which comprises the three core values of development. "Give us this day our daily bread". Bread represents basic necessities in life akin to life sustenance.

"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". Students of the bible interpret this as literal debt or sin. Either way, the implication is self-esteem. Sin or debt decreases a person’s sense of worth. Asking forgiveness or forgiving others restore one’s self-esteem.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". Deliverance connotes freedom. Yielding to temptation is a prelude to enslavement to any form of evil. This evil manifests in both personal manner and societal structures.