STUDENT GROUPS led by the Transition Government (TransGov) of the Sanggunian ramped up efforts to oppose President Rodrigo Duterte’s plans for the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

According to Sanggunian Coordinator Carmela Vinzon, the Sanggunian wants to take a “punch after punch” approach in rallying against the proposed burial.

“We do not plan to let this fire die down. [We] need to stop the burial,” said Vinzon.

On August 12, the Sanggunian organized a black shirt campaign, where members of the Ateneo community were encouraged to wear black in protest of the burial. According to Vinzon, the move was meant to express solidarity with the Ateneo faculty’s stand against historical revisionism.

“[The black shirt campaign] was a recall from the ‘Ateneans #NeverForget’ campaign because we will never forget and we will never allow this burial to be called a ‘healing’ experience for the nation,” she said. The #NeverForget campaign began after 412 members of the Ateneo faculty had earlier released a statement against the “wilful distortion of history” of events during the Martial Law era.

The campaign was also a prelude to the Citizens’ Assembly, held at the Luneta Park on August 14, where students and faculty gathered with other civil groups in denouncing the Marcos burial. Around 500 Ateneans were in attendance, according to the Ateneo contingent organizer Miguel Rivera.

Student activism

The Sanggunian’s anti-Marcos campaign comes at a period of renewed partnership with the other sectors of the student body. According to Vinzon, the Sanggunian will work together with organizations such the Analysis and Discourse Cluster of the Council of Organizations in the project.

“We constantly engage the community and the national administration through activities done in partnership with [these groups, other] stakeholder student groups, and faculty and staff,” said Vinzon.

According to volunteer organizer Luis Enriquez (3 AB DS), the project was in coordination with the wider Duyan ng Magiting coalition, of which the Sanggunian is a signatory. The campaign was a response to the stand released by the coalition against the Marcos burial plans.

Members of the Sanggunian and some of the faculty members met with Duyan ng Magiting leaders in order to discuss the agenda of the coalition last July 13.

Economics Assistant Professor Philip Tuaño said that the coordination between the students and faculty showed inter-generational support against the burial measure.

“We usually think of Martial Law as an issue of our generation and not really an issue of the younger generation, so it’s great that students are actually supporting that issue,” Tuaño said.

Beyond campus grounds

Moreover, Enriquez and Vinzon agreed that the presence of Ateneo students, faculty members, and alumni was “definitely felt” during the Citizens’ Assembly.

“We filled about two and a half buses. Ateneo’s participation was good. [Many] of the alumni and faculty went straight to Luneta to stand with the delegation coming from school,” Vinzon said.

“For something planned on a short notice, that’s fairly decent. The numbers were not disappointing and the Ateneo contingent was one of the larger contingents na napadala,” Enriquez added.

According to Tuaño, the number of Ateneans even exceeded his expectations. However, there is already a foreseeable difficulty.

“I didn’t really expect that students will be calling on fellow students. We’re really surprised that number of students actually came, but the question really is how to sustain it,” Tuaño said.

Similarly, Vinzon wishes that in the future, there will be an increase in attendance of Ateneans in mobilizations against the burial of Marcos.

“I call for the students to voice out their critical opinions not just behind the screen, but to actually physically participate,” Vinzon said. “Let us not be afraid to get dirty and disturbed, this is about the future of our nation.”

‘Physically participate’

Assistant to the Vice President for the Loyola Schools for Formation Rene San Andres said that a well-rounded Atenean is “academically excellent in his or her chosen field, but is also of person who is aware of his or her surroundings, which includes our history [and] our socioeconomic and political situation.”

Enriquez cited the film Ignacio de Loyola (2016) to differentiate “deepening one’s knowledge” and “acting on that knowledge.”

“You who have knowledge of the story, you who have come face-to-face with these people (Martial Law victims), can you sleep well at night knowing that the person who initiated and perpetuated all these will be laid to rest and will be labeled a hero?” Enriquez said.

According to him, the message of the burial is very problematic.

“Is this the kind of behavior that you want to encourage among the young that you can squander funds, you can plunder the country, you can commit countless human rights violations, only to be labeled a hero?” he said, adding that it is easy to speak of names and numbers. Coming face-to-face with the families of the victims will, however, allow one to question if it is “time to move on as a country and just let [the burial] happen.”

“It’s a very Ignatian and Jesuit principle–thought and action–they have to happen together,” Enriquez said. “While we gather the information, while we deepen our knowledge, it’s an imperative that we act.”