TO DISCUSS the youth’s activism during Martial Law, the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada) held “Rooted: Martial Law and the Challenges of Sociopolitical Formation Among the Youth” at the Rizal Library on October 3.

The forum, organized with the Political Science Department, tackled how Martial Law propelled the youth to come together in response to the issues brought by the regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Present as guest speakers were Akbayan Chair Risa Hontiveros, Sociology and Anthropology Department Professorial Lecturer Anna Marie Karaos, History Department Professor Roy Mendoza and Psychology Department Professor Tina Montiel.

In an interview with The GUIDON, Crusada Premier Abbo Hernandez said the forum was framed in light of the issue over former First Lady Imelda Marcos’ presence at an Ateneo Scholarship Foundation, Inc. event.

“We thought the root cause of why there was so much outrage [for the Imelda Marcos issue], but at the same time, a lot of people seemed like they didn’t care, was because nobody understood the difference between how we were formed now and how students were formed back then, in 1972,” said Hernandez.

In 1972, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law, which entailed the forced eradication of various student organizations, of which the Ateneo was not exempted.

According to Hernandez, the forum was aimed to shed light on the importance of student groups and to provide an understanding of how students were formed despite the abolition of the said groups.

“These are realities that we take for granted. And I think if we realize them, we’d not only appreciate our activities more but we’d appreciate the struggles [during Martial Law] that brought about the things that we have now,” he said.

Hernandez also stated that the activism displayed by the youth during Martial Law is absent in the Ateneo today.

“Wala ng halos pinaghuhugutan ‘yung Atenista ‘pag tinatanong mo kung saan siya papunta, bakit niya ginagawa ‘yung gingawa niya (These days, when you ask an Atenean where he is headed, why he does the things he does, there is not much to draw from),” said Hernandez.

Youth activism then

Karaos described her life as an Atenean during the Martial Law as “simple lamang, at hindi masyadong madrama (simple, with little drama).”

Then a member of the Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League and the Ateneo Student Catholic Action, she was exposed to the country’s sociopolitical realities when she would visit marginalized areas.

“Sa pakikisalamuha ko sa maralita sa mga komunidad, mas naintindihan ko na ang kalagayan nila ay hindi nila pinili, at may mga bagay na lumikha ng mga kalagayan na iyon kaya sila nagkaganoon (In my interaction with the marginalized in the community, I came to understand that they did not choose their situation, and that there are instead factors that create these situations that placed them in that position),” she said.

Karaos then challenged today’s youth to embody political leadership. While the idea appears daunting, she said political involvement among the youth is what the country needs today.

On the other hand, Montiel detailed her experiences during the Martial Law period, which was declared the year she graduated from college.

As the young wife of a wanted activist, Montiel went into hiding with her son to escape from intelligence agents who wanted to use her as a hostage to lure her husband out of hiding.

According to Montiel, her husband, Boyet, was wanted for helping organize the underground group April 6 Liberation Movement, which was responsible for a bomb that exploded “four rows away from President Marcos” at a tourist convention.

Montiel attributed her hyper vigilance to the trauma she faced during the Martial Law period; she further related how her house in Manila was raided by military agents shortly after she fled.

“Raids were done at one in the morning. Even until now, when there’s something unexpected, or I hear a voice or the doorbell rings at one in the morning, I get so scared,” she said.

For his part, Mendoza shared how the absence of student organizations during his college years at the University of Santo Tomas paved the way for various underground student activist groups within the campus to emerge.

He said students would carry out messages across the campus in secret, and at times, be discovered by the school security guards and janitors.

Shortly after he became involved with a rebel movement, Mendoza decided to discontinue his studies.

With its belief in an armed struggle against the Martial Law, the movement became involved with the secessionist political party Moro National Liberation Front, which would send its recruits to Sabah for training.

Before Mendoza could get called up to Sabah, the Marcos government discovered the movement and exiled its members. This would allow Mendoza to organize civil work in Manila instead, where he also continued his studies at the age of 26.

For Mendoza, the problem with the youth’s sociopolitical formation is the “vacuum” that came after People Power I.

“Many thought na, sige tapos na ‘yung laban. Kalimutan [na natin]; naging apathetic [sila]. Sige, pabayaan natin. We’ve done our part. ‘Yung iba naman, let them do their part [Many thought, okay the fight is over. Let’s forget about it; they became apathetic. Let it go. We’ve done our part. Let the others do their part],” he said.

He further encouraged the youth to continue its political education towards a more sophisticated analysis of history.

“[Maraming nagtatanong kung] wala bang nangyaring maganda during Martial Law? Lahat na lang ba pangit? Ngayon kailangan nating talaga biyak-biyakin ‘yan eh. Ang sagot: It’s not a simple yes or no [Many are asking if anything good ever came out of Martial Law. Was it all that tumultuous? We need to break that down into pieces. The answer is not it’s not a simple yes or no].”

As an activist since the age of 15, Hontiveros spent years in various demonstrative movements before receiving a scholarship in the Ateneo, where she took up a degree in social sciences.

She stressed that it was the assassination of politician Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in 1983 that catapulted open student movements.

Hontiveros added that despite the 1986 People Power Revolution, the fight remains far from over for today’s youth.

“Pagkatapos na isang politikal na demokrasiya, hamon pa rin na palawakin natin ‘yung sinimulan natin noong EDSA People Power Revolution—iyong pagpapalalim pa ng demokrasiya sa ating lipunan [Despite political democracy, there is still that challenge to expand what we started in the EDSA People Power Revolution, which is the deepening of democracy in our society],” she said.

Distrust in democracy

During the question and answer portion, political science freshman Benjamin Aldero asked how the genuine democratic processes could again appeal to the masses despite threats against it.

He explained that despite the People Power Revolution, a large number of people, particularly the youth, remain distrustful towards the democratic processes in the Philippines because of the current issues that persist, even after the Martial Law period.

According to Karaos, there is a need to first look into the history of countries that never utilized democracy and evaluate the end result.

“Tayong mga nasa unibersidad, mapalad tayo kasi puwede tayong mag-aral. Marami tayong mga resources na puwede nating aralin ang mga leksyion ng kasaysaysan. Doon naman natin makikita kung umuubra ba talaga ang pamamaraan na hindi demokratiko [We in the university, we are fortunate because we can study. We have so many resources that we can study the lessons in history. That’s really where we can see if the non-democratic method actually works],” she said.

As for Hontiveros, the only way to believe in democracy again is to “just do it.”

“Ang dami na nating pagsusumikap at ilang ‘di maliliit na tagumpay na nandoon sa landas ng demokratisasiyon. Kaya’t mas marami tayong resources kahit papaano. Kahit mahirap pa rin, kahit challenging, I suppose and I hope, lalo na kayong mas bata sa amin, mas may pag-asa, na puwede pa nating palamanin at palalimin ang demokrasiyang iyan sa mga susunod na taon [We’ve had so many aspirations and many big successes on the path of democratization. That’s why we have more resources. Even though it’s still difficult, even though it’s challenging, I suppose and I hope, especially for you who are younger than us, with more hope, that we can still expand and deepen that democracy in the coming years],” she said.

Updated on October 5, 2014 at 11:56 PM.