You will not know value of democracy, freedom until it is taken away—Drilon
Senate President Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“You will not know the value of democracy and freedom until it is taken away from you.”
Such was Senate President Franklin Drilon’s repeated message on Thursday as the country commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution.
“I’ll let you know ano ba ang value ng Edsa. Alam mo po—lalo na sa ating mga kabataan—you will not know the value of democracy and freedom until it is taken away from you,” Drilon said in an interview over dzRH.
(I’ll let you know what’ the value of Edsa is. You know, especially to our youth, you will not know the value of democracy and freedom until it is taken away from you)
“Noon, ang dalangin nila noong Martial Law ay pwede kaming magwelga, pwede kaming lumaban para sa aming mga rights bilang mga manggagawa.”
(Before our only prayer during martial law was that we would be allowed to hold protests, fight for our rights as workers.)
“Uulitin ko lang po para sa ating kabataan—you will not know the value of democracy and freedom until it is taken away from you. Hindi mo alam na ang sarap pala, kapag tayo ay malaya. At iyan po ay sana huwag natin malimutan,” he further said.
(I’ll say it again for our youth, you will not know the value of democracy and freedom until it is taken away from you. You will not know how good it is to become free. And we should not forget that.)
A practicing lawyer during the martial law period, Drilon recalled how he was sent directly to jail when his clients were arrested.
Instead of bringing them to courts, he said, they always ended up defending themselves before the police.
“Bilang abugado, talagang masakit sa loob mo na wala kang magawa, dahil noon po ay Martial Law. You will not know the value of freedom until it is taken away from us,” he stressed.
(As a lawyer, it really pained me that I could not do anything because it was Martial Law then. You will not know the value of freedom until it is taken away from us.)
“Marami mang mga pagkukulang sa nakalipas na 30 taon, ngunit ang hindi madedeny ay tayo ay may working democracy. Mayroon tayong mga institusyon, institutions of democracy and these are working. You [cannot] deny that,” the Senate leader noted.
(There may be shortcomings in the past 30 years, but you cannot deny that we have a working democracy. We have institutions of democracy and these are working. You cannot deny that.) RAM
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