Youth and hope

It was around 1 p.m. on Nov. 18 when my Filipino teacher came in. He was late for class and wore a gloomy, disgruntled look for he knew an injustice had occurred, and as though he had failed his duty as a teacher not to let it happen.

He sat at his desk and told us about the secret burial of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ remains in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I was shocked and saddened at the same time. I could not believe how a corrupt government official, a liar and a dictator could possibly be buried in a cemetery for heroes. The silence in the classroom was deafening. No one, not even my teacher, uttered a word afterwards.

The class of 15-year-olds knew that Marcos did not deserve burial in the Libingan. They were taught what happened during martial law, including the human rights abuses and the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth.

They know that this is wrong. They know that Marcos is not a hero.

As I walk home around 5 p.m., I pass Katipunan and I hear the chants of those marching along the road. I see the signs urging motorists to honk for justice (“Busina para sa hustisya”) and declaring that Marcos is not a hero, among others. I see their faces filled with rage. With their every cry, I hear not just their voice but also their conviction.

What surprises me is that high school students like myself are among the protesters mainly composed of adults and college students. They are so young, yet they have the courage to stand up for what’s right. I find myself chanting along with these strangers, for all of us have something in common: We have been fooled.

I get home, I turn on the TV set and I see the news about the rallies that took place nationwide, including the one on Katipunan. The nation is outraged by this burial. And I believe this is right. We have the right to be outraged because we know the truth. We young people know the truth. They can no longer hide or lie to us about what really happened during martial law. This is the reason we go out to the streets and protest, because we know better.

Thus, I am insulted by those who say the opinion of the youth is irrelevant. How they try to belittle and silence us because we are “too young.” They cannot dismiss the opinion of the youth because our relevance cannot be measured by our age alone. Just because they are older doesn’t mean that they know better. If they truly know better, they will be out there in the streets screaming injustice. But that is not the case. We may be young and we may be just students, but our knowledge can grow as much as in adults. Marcos was not a hero. He did not deserve to be buried in the Libingan. We know the truth.

I begin to see the larger picture. How saddening that 30 years after Marcos was deposed, people are still blind to reality; how we let the man responsible for one of the darkest periods in our history be buried in the cemetery for heroes; how there are still people who continue to ignore the relevance of the youth.

But with what I’ve seen—the people who go hand in hand to protest this madness, those voicing their opinions at home, those students who know what the truth is—I can say that there’s hope. Marcos may be buried in the Libingan, but his family will never be able to bury the past.

Don Randolf A. Sanchez, 15, studies at Ateneo High School and “isn’t afraid to speak his mind.”