PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!

"Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors."

Our purpose was not only to oust one man but to free ourselves and change a situation that kept many in the bondage of poverty and dependence. You asked me if I ever got tired of marching in the streets and how many pairs of shoes I had worn out. Yes, sometimes, I do get tired and even discouraged. That is why I often look back and reflect on the lives of others who strove – even to the point of paying the ultimate price. It is only then and after prayer that I am able to gather myself and continue marching.

Do you remember, how we even used to "compare" heroes? I was inspired by the man Diokno and how he worked towards a negotiated peace even as his health failed him.

Ninoy Aquino could have enjoyed the company of his family in exile in Boston, Massachusetts, yet he risked his life in spite of the warning of certain death by returning home to the Philippines.

Edgar Jopson, the student leader who graduated from your school, could have advanced in the world of corporate business yet he chose to organize workers instead and was killed by the military.

Macli-ing Dulag, the Cordillera chieftain, could have practiced the art of compromise and accommodation yet he elected to honor the culture of his people and defend their ancestral lands.

Alex Orcullo could have enjoyed the quiet peace of family life in his tranquil Davao home yet he chose to write the truth and stand up for the rights of his community.

Emmanuel Yap, who was your age when I taught him in school, graduated with honors and seemed destined for a brilliant career but decided to take the path of his convictions. He was made to "disappear," a victim of the dictator's wrath and the paranoia of "national security."

The list is long and there are more who are nameless, unknown except to those they served selflessly. Such heroism among our people, we agree, made us proud to be Filipinos.

Once I read to you a passage from Claro M. Recto, a Filipino who had a certain vision for his country's future but died without seeing it fulfilled: "I place into your hands…this message from one whose only authority is a firm and lifelong experience, and who in his declining years, still loves to plant trees knowing that he will never sit in their shade, happy in the thought with Tasio, the Philosopher, that someday, in a distant future, one may say of him and the nationalists of his generation: "There were those who kept vigil in the night of our forefathers." – Ed Garcia, in a letter to Paolo, April 3, 1988, Easter Sunday.

Note: Ed Garcia was a teacher of mine in high school. I don't know who Paolo is, maybe his son?

CDV