Martial Law activist urges youth to continue their ‘fire’
The fire of the youth burns more ardently than their forebearers, a martial law activist and survivor said during the rally at Luneta.
UST students place themselves at the forefront of rally participants.Photo by Dexter Tilo/THE FOURTH
Alias Francisco d’Anconia said, “Tingin ko compared sa mga mas matanda, mas may fire […] ‘yung youth. Yung mga matatanda medyo magdadahan-dahan pa to do things. Pero ‘yung youth ‘pag may sinabing may rally, andun sila. Yung youth laging na sa forefront.”
(The way I see it, compared to the elders, the youth has more fire. The elders think twice before doing things, but the youth, when a rally is set to happen, they are always at the forefront.)
d’Anconia was part of the first confetti movement, also known as the “yellow confetti rallies” in Makati during the regime of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
d’Anconia, who was once a national council member of the Nationalist Alliance of Justice, Freedom and Democracy during the post-Aquino administration, shared the inside joke he and his friend has about the irony of what happened more than three decades ago and what is happening now.
“Hindi namin inisip na after 30 years, babalik kami sa lansangan [at] sisigaw ulit ng ‘Marcos, Hitler, diktador, tuta. After [31] years, pinabagsak na natin si Marcos noon, tapos babalik kami sa lansangan magsisigaw ulit ng ‘Marcos, Hitler.”
(We did not think that come 30 years, we would go back to the streets and chant ‘Marcos, Hitler, diktador, tuta’ again. [31] years ago, we ousted Marcos from his position, but here we are still and here we are again,” he narrated.
d’Anconia was part of the first confetti movement, also known as the “yellow confetti rallies”, the business’ sector’s response to the assassination of Marcos’ staunchest opponent, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. Shredded papers, preferably yellow, were thrown from the high-rise buildings in Makati.
d’Anconia’s view about the youth today was that they shaped not only this moment, but more importantly, the future. They were the ones who would reap the gains of what their predecessors fought for in the past. They had years ahead of them. They would be “involved not only in the government, but also in the everyday social and cultural life.”
He also warned about vigilance and readiness during this time because “bad news comes every day and unexpected things happen one after another.”
“Inaasahan naming yung youth talaga na ipagpatuloy niyo lang yung fire tapos andiyan naman kami sa tabi.
(We really expect the youth to continue the fire because we are always by their side),” d’Anconia noted.
Francisco d’Anconia is pseudonym adopted from the fictional character from the Atlas Shrugged movies. The character was an activist behind the playboy look who recruited great thinkers for the strike in the industrial world.
