Protests and justice

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”  William Faulkner

When the law is being manipulated or corrupted and justice is either denied or delayed, it is the right of every citizen to fight for justice. The people have only two options – one is through an armed revolution and the second is through non-violent demonstrations.

Protest rallies are also used to draw the attention of the public to specific issues. It may also be directed towards media – mainstream and social – who can then spread the news to the rest of the country.

A protest or demonstration is simply an expression, through words or actions, of publicly expressing an opinion or feeling. This public expression can be done through rallies or demonstrations, marches, vigils, boycotts, pickets, sit-ins, noise barrage, or public manifestos. Demonstrations normally depend on spontaneous support and are often organizationally decentralized. This means there is normally no central body orchestrating the different public expressions. The protests can attract diverse political and social groups if it is limited to one specific issue.

During this period, rally participants may not even be influenced by general public opinion but simply want to express their feelings about a specific issue. I remember the video of a single person standing in the middle of the street, in Beijing, trying to block oncoming tanks as an act of protest of the massacre at Tianmen Square.

Mass protests are transformed into civil resistance or nonviolent resistance when they become part of a systematic and peaceful campaign to achieve a particular objective. This happens when pressure and persuasion are added to the mass rallies. Here are two classic examples.

On Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, an African American, was arrested because she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and move to the colored section at the back of the bus. This act led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ended bus segregation in Montgomery. However, this became a starting point that eventually became the civil rights movement in the United States.

The current marches, demonstrations and rallies in our country was ignited by the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB). A Supreme Court ruling was used as the legal justification of the burial. Despite all the legal arguments and “washing of hands” by government officials, the fact is that the Marcos burial in the LNMB sends a message that there is an attempt to recognize Marcos as a hero. This is historical revisionism. Marcos was not, is not and will never be a hero.

This specific issue of publicly opposing the legal recognition of Marcos as a hero, has united different groups of diverse ideological beliefs – from the Left to the Right of the political spectrum. There are several diverse groups that are presently at the center of the mobilization of protests.

The first and most publicized groups are the ”millennials” using social media as their primary organizing tool. The reaction from this generation has surprised many political observers who had concluded that this was a generation who did not have any political consciousness and was totally unaware of the evils of the Marcos martial law regime. This generation may yet give birth to a Philippine “political Spring.”

The second and third groups are those whose roots were formed during the martial law years and led the fight against the Marcos regime even during the height of its power. These two groups suffered the most severe persecution. It was from their ranks that the Marcos regime used torture, assassination and other heinous methods to try and silence them.

These two groups are the human rights activists and the movement that are often simply described as the Left. During this period, it would seem that the symbolic figures of the human rights activists is that “vintage warrior” Rene Saguisag and former Senator Bobby Tanada. The most visible on the Left, so far, are Satur Ocampo, Bayan,and Makabayan.

The fourth group, which potentially can be the best organized  is the Catholic Church. The protests have so far been limited to some Catholic Schools like La Salle, Ateneo, St. Scholastica which have a tradition of activism. Although the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have issued a strong statement condemning the Marcos burial, there has been no signs of any significant organizing at the parish level.

If these protests are not addressed by those in power, the next question is whether these rallies and protests will grow and widen into a civil resistance movement. It is also important to remember that every protest can sometimes be the subject of counter protest. Liberal Party President Senator Francis Pangilinan has also said that this is only the fifth month of the Duterte administration; and, every administration deserves a “honeymoon” period.

In Philippine history, the most storied civil resistance was the first EDSA People Power. But I remember the First Quarter Storm which began on Jan. 26,1970. This was the first mass protest rally against Marcos. It was led by students and the principal demand was for reforms.

It is too soon to forsee the future direction of these anti-Marcos rallies. For the moment, we can be guided by the concluding message of Br. L. Jimenez, DLSP President: “Let us oppose every effort to distort our nation’s story...The oppressiveness of Marcos Martial Law must not be forgotten.”

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