ibon mang may layang lumipad
kulungin mo at pumipiglas
bayan pa kayang sakdal dilag
ang di magnasang makaalpas
The Filipino youth is one of the staunchest and most audacious components of the nation. For indeed, youth’s idealism is the soul and conscience of the Filipino people. Students are the conductors of public sentiment, and as such, voice out the cries for change and reform. Thus, student endeavors, borne out of genuine love for the country, should not be looked upon as obstacles to development — they are the catalysts of change.
Commitment and nationalism take many forms. For some, it is in participating in the Alay Lakad; for others, it is involvement in the Green Revolution Program, and still for others, it is in doling out relief goods amid the flash and whir of news and television cameras. To the students, activism is a manifestation of their involvement with the affairs of the nation.
It amazes us to hear the Department of Education and Culture (DEC) airing a warning on the resurgence of student activism. What, may we ask, is wrong with student activism? A society, undergoing a democratic revolution, should be open and sensitive to the particular roles of the different sectors of the community. Where did the DEC pick up the ludicrous notion that student movements are necessarily subversive? This overcautious attitude adopted by the DEC, all but kills student initiative to be part of a changing society. The studentry embodies the intellectual ferment of the Filipino people. Are they dangerous to the security of the Republic because of this?
Democratic dialogue is different from licentious criticism. The people concerned should be able to distinguish between the two. For even the president of the land, in his book Today’s Revolution: Democracy, claims a healthy respect for responsible evaluation and criticism. We quote the following passages: “I believe, therefore, in the necessity of Revolution as an instrument of individual and social change, and that its end is the advancement of human freedom…I believe that democracy is the revolution, that it is today’s revolution.”
And what would democracy be if the basic right to speak and to be heard is abridged and the right to petition for redress of grievances is denied?
We do not owe our allegiance to any particular personality; we owe it to the Filipino people. Therefore, a disagreement with the national leadership is not a repudiation of the nation’s aspirations; it is a sign of concern for the future and patrimony of the nation.
Pilipinas kong minumutya
pugad ng luha ko’t dalita
aking adhika’y makita kang
sakdal laya…
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s Archives 2024 special. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSArchivesSpecial2024.
