“I have asked myself many times: Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? Is he not a coward who would readily yield to any colonizer, be he foreign or homegrown? Is a Filipino more comfortable under an authoritarian leader because he does not want to be burdened with the freedom of choice? Is he unprepared, or worse, ill-suited for presidential or parliamentary democracy?
I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource.”— Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., “A Pact with the Devil is No Pact at All”
Witness suppression,
Dangerously high,
And feel the rage seep right through the cracks of your skin,
Allow it to spill onto the floor and reach your feet,
Climbing up to your chest,
Until it finds its way out through your eyes.
Believe me:
The Filipino is worth crying for.
Witness riches,
Oh, so tempting to visitors;
Ingrained in this land we call ours,
Land we have not the luxury to enjoy.
The People have been locked up for too long,
And I, their willing key holder, hope to return from overseas.
Because, believe me:
The Filipino is worth flying for.
Witness substance,
As these riches are not restricted to materials.
The People will know what to do when I am gone;
If I am not there to unlock the cell,
They will tear it piece by piece.
They believe me:
The Filipino is worth defying for.
Witness solitude,
I let the silence in on my way home;
The People are unsure of what to expect,
But I lay my head back.
They tell me I'm going to die,
And I let a lone breath out:
The Filipino is worth sighing for.
Witness pride,
The People knew what to do after all,
When the bullet dared to challenge my brain to a show of strength,
The People were prepared with tools,
Not to protect my body from harm,
But to dissect what they needed to proceed,
To probe my mind for the answers,
And ensure my rebirth in their revolution;
I was tired, but I followed them into the fray.
Believe me:
The Filipino is worth trying for.
When they warned me not to return,
More afraid for my life than I was,
I reminded them,
I pleaded with them to believe me:
The Filipino is worth dying for.
“One hour before he was killed [on August 21, 1983], Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. discussed his possible assassination with reporters aboard the flight returning him home from self-imposed exile.
Assassinations serve a purpose, he told them. I have to suffer with my people."
— Vivian Aplin-Brownlee, Washington Post
I wrote this poem back in February as part of a cultural mini-zine created by Anakbayan North Jersey, a Filipino youth- and student-led grassroots organization centered around Philippine democracy and liberation. Originally, it was in commemoration of the People Power Revolution of 1986, a series of mass protests against the corrupt regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. At that time, the exigence of these sustained campaigns was Marcos committing electoral fraud by falsely claiming that he had won re-election over his opponent, Corazon Aquino.
I decided to revisit this poem today, on September 21st, for a very special reason. Forty-nine years ago, Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, which placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. As reported in the Origins article linked above, Marcos then moved on to “suspend and eventually rewrite the Philippine constitution, curtail civil liberties, and concentrate power in the executive branch and among his closest allies. Marcos had tens of thousands of opponents arrested and thousands tortured, killed, or disappeared” (Sanchez).
Nearly a decade and a half later was the People Power Revolution. Through the undying spirit of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, Marcos and his family relinquished their power and left the Philippines. This movement stood as an inspiration to anti-authoritarians all over the world.
Growing up, I was deeply discouraged by my lack of understanding of the Filipino identity. Today, I am humbled by the blood that runs through me. The Filipino is worth writing for.
Isang Bagsak: “One Down.” If one falls, we all fall.
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