‘Super senior’ activists, educators reunite in ‘Power of We’

A member of the Block Marcos movement hold on to a statue of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. He was among those who gathered in front of People Power Monument, Quezon City, during the 31st People Power Revolution anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 25 2017. The group denounced the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ngga Bayani. (Photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/Philippine Daily Inquirer)

It wasn’t just the feisty millennials in attendance at the 31st People Power anniversary rally at the People Power Monument in Quezon City. The “super seniors” who had fought against the Marcos dictatorship had a reunion too.

In her speech at the “Power of We” rally, Sr. Mary John Mananzan, a Benedictine nun, aired out a “special greeting to super senior citizens” in the crowd.

“I may be the oldest activist here,” Mananzan said. “Once an activist, always an activist forever.”

Mananzan was one of the nuns at the forefront of the Edsa People Power rally in 1986, facing down tanks and urging on the military to join the people.

And now, she said, sharply in Filpino: “I’m still here. And what I am really angry about is while the situation is similar. What’s happening now is worse because we are now facing an erosion of the moral fiber of the Filipinos.”

She urged Filipinos to fight back against “twisted morals and ethical standards.”

“It is scary when values and the perception of what is right and wrong are gone,” she said. “What is right becomes wrong, what is wrong becomes right. The innocent get persecuted and the guilty are left free.”

“I am old,” she said. “But am going to fight until my death.”

Mananzan, formerly head of St. Scholastica’s College, joined onstage heads of the top universities of the country. Among them were Michael Tan, chanceloor of the University of the Philippines Diliman; Fr. Jett Villarin, Ateneo de Manila University president; and Bro. J.J. Jimenez, De la Salle Philippines president.

It was a sheepish Tan who described the gathering as also a “reunion of senior citizens” like him.

“How many years have we been marching in the streets?” he said. “Some here have been doing it since the 1960s. It’s almost been half a century of marching for the senior citizens here.”

“Thirty-one years is a long time,” he added. “Promises have been made and broken. I will be 95 in 30 years. I hope we no longer have to march in rallies then, but instead, just celebrate true freedom.”

“Parang may dementia nga buong bansa (It seems the whole country has dementia),” Tan went on. “UP will not turn back on keeping the memories alive, to get people committed to doing something.”

Villarin urged the youth not to their sights “get clouded.”

“Listen, especially to the truth,” he said, in Filipino. “Respect people, the truth, and the motherland.”

Villarin noted that, more than the “war on drugs,” the Filipinos were also suffering from a “war on memory.”

Also speaking in Filipino, Jimenez reminded the gathering the key lesson from the 1986 People Power revolution: “On Edsa, we learned that we can achieve change in a way that’s humane and peaceful.”

He warned Filipinos against the perception of some that to improve the Philippines killing criminals is necessary.

“That’s not true,” he said. “They’re just saying to give themselves permission to be violent and set aside human rights.”

Jimenez added: “Let’s continue to keep the spirit of People Power alive. It’s we who will make change happen. It’s we who will be good for the country. If we have to go back to Edsa, we will. We’re ready to make a stand.” /atm