One hundred twenty-four years have passed since the declaration of Philippine independence from the chains of Spanish rule for over 300 years, but the fight for freedom is not yet over. This question remains — are we truly free and independent or are we still treading the long road of freedom?
It would be an understatement to say that Filipinos are suffering from the emergence of various difficulties in various parts of life. They have been deprived of the right source of income and opportunities. Filipinos are still struggling to find work, some of them already lost their jobs and businesses still cannot recover from the onslaught of the pandemic.
With the current health crisis, the sliver of hope for healing that only good governance can bring continues to be farther from our reach as the number of problems reaches an all-time high. Concrete actions can hardly be seen from the administration from its failure to defend its people from COVID-19 and from its socio-economic effect. This pandemic has shown that freedom is only enjoyed by some— the powerful and those who are born with privilege.
Meanwhile, fighting tyranny and oppression through the media and free expression always resulted in atrocities and violence. These innate constitutional rights, which allow citizens to be productive citizens of the country by doing their job of keeping the government in check, are continuously violated.
The government has also made it a point to silence criticism, with ABS-CBN shut down in the year 2020, in compliance with the cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Just three days after, the 122nd commemoration of Philippine Independence through a "grand mañanita", Rappler CEO and Chief Editor Maria Ressa, as well as former researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos, Jr., were charged and convicted of cyber libel on June 15 in the same year by Branch 46 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. They were persecuted for delivering news which highlighted the government’s ineptitude in handling the COVID-19 crisis, or for opinion pieces wherein the state is criticized for human rights violations.
This act of silencing various media networks that are instrumental in informing people expresses a blatant attack to press freedom. In addition, the administration’s green-lighting of the Anti-Terror bill really proved that a thinly-veiled dictatorship has once again knocked on the doors of freedom of speech and expression.
The danger comes from the fact that automatically happens next after speaking the truth is to watch or see someone lifeless on the corner of the street. Innocent lives are being taken away. The oppression, violence, and human rights violation continue to haunt those who are in power who put the fate of the powerless in their hands.
Fighting for something that is rightfully yours from the start has no good. When a country cherishes its ties with other countries than its citizenry, or when the government leaders fail to stand up for its constituents and become mere bystanders in the face of human rights violations, the cycle of oppression continues.
Hence, the question still stands, “Are we truly free?"
The truth is that Filipinos are still not free from the chaos within. With Filipinos dying, being abused, and tormented on a daily basis, the ongoing resource exploitation, human rights abuse by those who are meant to protect them, and ineffective solutions to social problems— these reasons compel people to fight back. Independence is impossible to grasp when the quest for freedom becomes vague.
However, given the current situation, Filipinos must keep their eyes open and take a deeper look at the status quo, re-evaluating our current "independence." Everyone must utilize their rights in order to find realistic alternatives for greater independence and freedom from the people and systems that oppress them. They must keep in mind that true independence is not attained unless every Filipino is free from all forms of oppression and violence because the true independent nation upholds freedom, liberty, equality, and democracy.
Thus, people who battle for what they believe is right are fueling the quest for independence. Every person who understands how expressing the truth may advocate for change will be alive with it. It may be still a long way from becoming free but it will survive as long as a significant number of Filipinos are willing to stand firm in their beliefs. It will never die, and June 12th will always be celebrated and is a date to remember.
Graphics: Janelle Kyla Liong
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