A veteran brat muses
I don't mind being lumped with the temperamental brats.
The unfortunate phrase, coined by a senior government official who was attempting to be dismissive about student rallies, has fortunately caught on among the millennials and then been appropriated for their own purposes. Now, it is a rallying cry, a loaded label that has taken off and captured the angst of angry idealists.
I was in their midst last November 30, Bonifacio Day, and the same day selected by anti-Marcos activists to rally at the EDSA People Power Monument. Unlike the first rally I attended where we were shivering in the rain and every single chant or song was impromptu, this time, the weather was pleasant, a huge stage had been constructed, and a structured program of sorts had been prepared for the rallyists.
The couple of friends I had hijacked from cocktails thrown by a swanky art gallery in Makati was gazing around with interest. From hobnobbing with billionaires and society matrons, this was a drastic change.
The crowd was much, much younger, of course. The median age in the cocktail event, where we had previewed Filipino masterpieces, was probably fifty. Here, we were looking at a dramatically younger crowd, full of enthusiasm and fervor and cheer. Huge banners and hand-written posters were raised energetically, fists were pumping, and a pride flag was waving. The faces were fresh and innocent, although sprinkled among the crowd were the grizzled visages of scrappy veterans.
On stage spoke various survivors of Martial Law. Their names were Comrade-this and Ka-that. One wondered how the communist narrative would strike the fancy of, much less a chord among, the kids.
Student leaders also took the stage, and I tried hard to memorize their names, for before me were (and this is my fearless forecast) the future leaders of government, the trailblazers who would articulate their generation's causes, much likeJopson and Gascon and Pangilinan's names resounded during my time.
The theme was consistent: Ferdinand Marcos was bad; he stole money from government coffers and he was responsible for the torture and deaths of many Filipinos. Interwoven amongst this also was the exhortation to the youth, the millennials, the temperamental brats, that this was going to be their fight, and it would be their generation that would continue to take up the cudgels for truth and justice.
Many things were new. Some things were old. Some slogans like "Marcos Hitler DiktadorTuta" were revived after 30 years, and recycled for today's use. Others, only millennials could have invented, such as "You can never obliviate us" (a nod to the Harry Potter generation) and "Fuccbois against Marcos". (For the outdated, the urban dictionary defines "fuccboi" as "a douchey guy who's self-aware of his non-committal behavior" or something as severe as "a colloquialism among prison inmates to refer to rape".)
I saw friends from the UP College of Law, who are now successful practicing lawyers and partners in prestigious lawfirms. I also saw students currently enrolled in the law school, proudly wearing the school's letters and bemoaning the fact that they had final exams the next day. And yet, here they all were.
As before, many volunteers had arrived lugging along biscuits and water bottles, ready to share and dispense amongst the fatigued. Fresh-faced kids wandered around with ice-chests and crackers, giving generously and openly. Yes, the future was here.
If there was one regret I could voice, it was that it seemed the vast majority of the protesters were from the elite, the rich enclaves around, and the educated. If the movement to halt the creeping revisionism of history, stealthily unleashed by the Marcos family, is to prosper, then the hard facts and the figures, as well as the rhetoric and rationale, need to be disseminated among a wider population base.
As we took the Uber car back to our sheltered homes, our late 20s Uber driver commented on the traffic he had to navigate, traffic that had been caused by the rally. I pointedly noted that we had just left that very rally. He then asked, "What did Marcos really do, anyway?"
The task ahead is plain.
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