Our country is not in wanting when it comes to revolutionary acts of heroism and deeds of patriotism by the youth for the cause of national freedom and national salvation. They always rise to the occasion whenever the Motherland needs them. It behooves upon the present generation to hearken to what the country has been crying for in these trying times.
By DON J. PAGUSARA
Davao Today
The role of the youth in the making of history cannot be overemphasized. And it ought not be ignored. It has often been quoted and sung, sometimes casually, that “the youth is the hope of the Fatherland.”
Although we can cite examples of youthful gangs of rascals who are a menace to society, they are the “pebbles in the field that lie wasted without having been part of an edifice.”
At certain critical points we witness with admiration the remarkable action of the youth making history whose ideals banner their valorous engagements for freedom and social justice. In recognition of their role in leading such historical action as asocial revolution, the task of nation-building would naturally rest on their shoulders. If only because the youth constitute the new and arising forces of society.
The youth are equipped with vigor and daring to dream dreams and the willingness to sacrifice to make these dreams come true — laying aside their own personal desires and aspirations for the sake of the higher cause of national freedom and democracy.
Sadly, this is a quality lacking among the members of the older generations who are resigned to the seemingly formidable props of the status quo. They are afraid to break away from traditional ways and habits. And they wallow in apathy. Or lethargy?
But the youth constantly welcome new ideas and innovations, blaze new trails, open up new paths, venture radical change. They are veritable artists whose eyes are always directed forward to new horizons.
It is well to remember that there have been two outstanding landmark events in our country’s history, as far as the significant role of the Filipino youth in the making of history is concerned. These two events both involved great mass mobilizations of the youth.
The FIRST was the Philippine Revolution of 1896 that witnessed the mass participation and mobilization of the great majority of the Filipino youth under the shining leadership of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and Apolinario Mabini.
The SECOND was the revolutionary movement of the 1970s, aptly called the Second Propaganda Movement, spearheaded by the youth and students under the banners of such organizations as the Kabataang Makabayan and the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan.
Our country is not in wanting when it comes to revolutionary acts of heroism and deeds of patriotism by the youth for the cause of national freedom and national salvation. They always rise to the occasion whenever the Motherland needs them. It behooves upon the present generation to hearken to what the country has been crying for in these trying times.
But the task assigned to the youth by history is not easy. There are no straight and smooth paths to liberty. The road to national liberation is long and tortuous, rough and fraught with perils.
We just have to take a glance at what is happening NOW before our very noses — the senseless slaying of the child Roque Antivo, the murder of Cristina Jose, and many other dastardly acts of the soldiers of the Aquino government against the progressive individuals and sectors clamoring for Change.
The perpetual obstacles put up by the reactionary diehards do not stop at what the military surreptitiously (and barefacedly!) did on the Baganga road few days ago as an act of harassment against the humanitarian and fact-finding mission of concerned citizens from Luzon to Mindanao. There are much more evil schemes in the stockroom of the military.
Telescope what the military is doing in the countryside in the guise of peace and development! What you see is a stark display of hypocrisy and inhumanity! Especially in areas where the revolutionary forces of our people — most of them in the prime of their youth, urban-bred and rural-based — are casting their lot with the impoverished masses, enduring the hazards of Nature’s elements, but outsmarting the fascist acts and deeds of the government’s military forces.
Verily, the legacy of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos is very much evident in the actuations of the Aquino government’s security forces. Only he [Noynoy] could have masterfully constructed a matuwid na daan that is paved with soldiers’ bullet casings and bootmarks all the way from the urban centers to the rural villages.
We are tempted to ask: Aren’t these the same military troops unleashed by the dictator Marcos and made to roam the countryside during the Martial Law era? Maybe. But with a singular distinction. The troops of Marcos were open in exhibiting their beastly madness. But the soldiers of Aquino are not only masquerading as “peacemakers and developers,” they are Oh my God!, constantly IN DENIAL! Covering up their deeds with all sorts of devilry and lies!
But kudos to the revolutionary youth! They are not daunted by the hypocrisies and atrocities of the fascist armed forces of the Aquino government! They will pursue the struggle to the end. No matter the cost. No matter the bloodshed. No matter the lives spent and lost, along the way.
“Like the sun at seven or eight in the morning,” the youth will always prove to be the new and arising forces for societal transformation.
Don J. Pagusara is a native of Mindanao, a multi-awarded author and a Palanca-awardee.
