[Partner] On Peace and Freedom Week: Awakening Heroism United for Peace and Climate Action
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The late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino (Source: PeopleAsia)
In this time of uncertainty at home and disarray abroad, as we are buffeted by the quadruple challenge of survival: climate catastrophe, armed conflict, covid resurgence with a possible new mpox pandemic, and collapsing economy, we must remind ourselves of who we are and what we stand for to overcome existential challenges we face.
Peace and Freedom Week is meant to remind ourselves of our heroes’ sacrifices from Lapu-Lapu, Sultan Kudarat, and all our freedom fighters against colonialism–from Spanish domination, American rule, Japanese's occupation or any foreign incursions, local tyranny, and now aggression in the West Philippine Sea. It is only proper to express appreciation for the gallantry of our heroes while sustaining our self-reliance, care for Mother Earth, and deference to the rule of law.
Rather than be condemned to reliving errors of the past, we must draw lessons to wisely chart the course of action and destiny of our people. Our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal admonished us more than a century ago: "Awaken your consciousness of the past, already effected from your memory–rectify what has been falsified and slandered. Then we shall be able to study the future."
Our recorded past is sometimes seen as nothing more than narratives of conquest by foreign aggressors, of poor governance and betrayal by our own leaders, of human pain and suffering. But the chronicles of our past also reveal noble and glorious moments, replete with examples of grace and goodness, sacrifice, heroic struggles, and moments when we can stand proudly and proclaim, "I am a Filipino and the Filipino is worth dying for."
We must recall and honor the sacrifice of Ninoy Aquino whose brutal assassination paved the way to EDSA People Power, where our birthright as a free people was redeemed. It was a shining moment applauded by the International Community of nations, serving as an inspiration in the breakdown of the Berlin Wall. The glorious EDSA Uprising is inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World program. Defending this unique legacy from any fake revisionist interpretation is the task of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP); to resist irreparable damage to our nation’s history and collective psyche.
When my late husband, Senator Heherson T. Alvarez, initiated the Peace & Freedom Week observance, he stressed “We must highlight the vital importance of knowing our heroes that provide a vision that Filipinos are a tough, resilient, brave, enduring, peace-loving people. Ninoy gave us such a moment. Ninoy returned from exile at a time of national crisis with mortal danger to himself with a mission for peace and a conviction that a non-violent strategy like the ways of Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela can prevail in the Philippines”.
In his undelivered statement at the airport, Ninoy reiterated his belief that "National reconciliation and unity can be achieved but only with justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. In a revolution, there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build."
Auspiciously, at long last, we applaud the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which has the promise of fulfilling peace in Mindanao. The peace accord was also praised by the United Nations and the European Union. Peace is a continuing saga of political will, compassion, a sense of kinship and fairness. There are still peace talks to be revived with the NPA rebels, the response to the cry for equity from our brothers in the Cordillera region, and the global cry for ceasefire and climate justice. The work for peace continues. All those engaged in this process, including our soldiers who liberated Marawi from the Maute extremists are our modern-day heroes.
On Peace and Freedom Week, we underscore pride in our history with the urgent need to break the barriers of political, ethnic, religious, and social differences, in a spirit of cooperation and the union in diversity to peacefully seek freedom from poverty and pollution, drugs and disease, ignorance and injustice, terrorism and tyranny. We must accomplish our country’s commitment to the SDGs. We in NAM-SERVE and our partners coordinated through the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) continue the tradition of commemorating August 21st, inaugurated at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport more than three decades ago. We invited Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr. to join then-President Corazon Aquino unveil the marker with the following inscription written by National Artist for Literature, and a patriot himself, Dr. Alejandro R. Roces, “On this spot Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was assassinated on 21st August 1983. It is eternally enshrined: “For wherever a martyr has shed his blood for truth, justice, peace, and freedom there is sacred ground. The sun cannot bleach, the wind cannot blow, the rain cannot wash that sanctity away. From ground like this springs that which forever makes the Filipino great.”
We must not forget. We must resist any effort to inflict amnesia on our nation.
As holocaust survivor and Noble laureate Elie Wiesel stated, "Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society no future."
Cecile Guidote-Alvarez is the President, International Theatre Institute-Social Change Network; Director, UNESCO DREAMS Ensemble Artist for Peace; and Founder, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). She was also the 2022 LaMaMa Global Artist Awardee, NYC, USA and a Magsaysay Outstanding Asian Artist Laureate.
