“It is important to remember his life and resistance today, especially in the era of systematic defamation against the revolutionary movement. If he were alive today, he would become a victim of the terrorist-tagging spree of the NTF-ELCAC).”
“This award will encourage us even more, to continue our work defending human rights and civil liberties in the Philippines.”
“We see this as another attempt to silence criticism and dissent against the state.”
But what perhaps connects to the viewers are grief and the grim reality of state repression. When some activists were abducted, their torture scenes seem to be lifted straight from testimonies of Martial Law victims. Name every method and it gets shown here. Here, the film becomes art that disturbs those who had lived in the comfort that Martial Law.
But, the greatest preparation of them all is this, are we ready to accept and claim the comprehensive notion of salvation (economic, political, cultural, spiritual and environmental) that only comes from God? Are we ready to follow the way, the truth and the life who is Jesus Christ? We know we will die sometime, but we do not know exactly when. Did we address the things that truly matters, like love, forgiveness and reconciliation before we die?
If indeed the Marcos II administration intends to bring back the past by, among other means, making ROTC mandatory again, 21 years after it was made an NTSP elective, it could start by first instituting the needed reforms in the program to prevent or at least reduce the corruption, abuses and violence that many associate with it.
“Withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member. Consequently, liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs [during the Duterte administration] is not nullified or negated.”
“This PILC’s fourth grant of a demurrer to evidence in an illegal possession case against a person in the peace process, a pattern that debunks what police want us to believe. What’s true: peace consultants are not armed and dangerous!”
“What we need in order for our country to develop is to effectively learn our own language. We will not develop if we merely learn a foreign language prematurely just so we would become the slaves of others.”
“What can we expect from someone who has shamelessly branded victims of human rights violations — people who have been killed, disappeared, tortured, illegally arrested and detained, among others — during his father’s dictatorial rule as greedy people who are only after money?”
“There is nothing to fret about the proposed reimbursement of the P1.5 billion collected taxes from 700,000 poll workers who served during the last election. If at all, they should be thanked for their service, and this can help them make ends meet amid this crisis we are in.”