TIBAK: The 80's Generation

When I first ascended the steps going to my first class (Political Science under Prof. Edmundo Garcia), I never really thought that my entire life would be changed just by attending that one class. 


I was then, a freshman at the University of the Philippines, with a student number of 88-13420, member of a quota class under Political Science. My philosophical world-view back then is a welfare state, similar with Japan. My closest buddy is a guy name Jabby.


My class is a mixture of old and new faces. I had a classmate Mavis Manotoc, one of the most beautiful and the more intelligent gals in the class. I had at least three math geniuses, two from Mindanao and the other one, a Chinay, with a very solid academic qualification. I had two other friends from Maries College who fortunately joined the same class as mine. We were former Marikina Youth Development Foundation Directors and were elected Boy Councilors, Boy Mayors and Vice mayors under the Boys and Girls Week of the City government of Marikina. 


I don't know why, but most of the class elected me class president. I was never really intent on getting a post, but these guys probably saw something in me that deserves a post. Maybe I looked responsible. Or maybe, just maybe, I looked alright and academic, since I wore glasses, don simple t-shirts and jeans, and sneakers. 


Many fraternities tried to lure me into their group. The first one, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, was the very first frat that offered me "sanctuary". I politely refused. I never intended to join a fraternity.


My first group was actually, the League of Filipino Students or LFS. Then I joined the volunteer group of then Student Council president David Celdran. 


Why did I join the LFS? Well, quite simply, I wanted to know why I live in such a chaotic environment, where tradpols oppress the people, and the people allow them to. Is there such an ideology that explains all these?


Joining the LFS opened a new vista for me. I started reading Karl Marx, especially his classics, (On the Jewish Question, Critique of Political Economy, 18th Brumiere, The Philosophy of Poverty, etal) and Hegel. I then read Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's works, especially on the Russian revolution, and further deepened my study with Mao's works, Che Guevarra's and Fidel Castro's works. Who would forget Friedrich Engels? His work on the Family and the State is a classic one should never miss. 


MY professors taught me different ideologies, but the only one which stuck to me, until now, is Marxism-Leninism. I am still deep into it, that, personally, I still feel that I am a Revolutionist, despite my age.


Marxism-Leninism is just an ideology. Deep within it, a study of the dynamics of the universe is the more substantial study---dialectics. For one to understand dialectics, one has to study all the classical work prior to Hegel and after Hegel. Hegelian dialectics is the most important study.


Of course, these studies all the more prepare me for a reading of the Philippine Society and Revolution, the seminal work of Jose Maria Sison. PSR is a required reading. 


(to be continued...)

Damayang Bayan

Ako'y lubusang napaluha nang ihayag ng ilang mga Youth Groups na sila'y naglunsad ng Tulong Kabataan upang magbigay agapay sa ating mga kababayang nasalanta ng bagyong Juan. 


Pinangungunahan ng NUSP or National Union of Students of the Philippines, kabilang sa Tulong Kabataan ang League of Filipino Students, Kabataan Partylist, Anakbayan, College Editor's Guild of the Philippines at ilan pang mga grupong pangkabataan. 


Halos mapahiya ang iba pang mga grupo sapagkat nangunguna na ang Kabataang Pinoy sa kilusing ito. 


Noong dalawang araw bago pa man sumalanta ang bagyong Juan sa Isabela, nanawagan na ako sa mga grupo na ilunsad na ang Damayang Bayan upang handa ang Sambayanang Pinoy na magbigay agapay sa mga biktima ng ganitong bagyo.


Damayang Bayan--isang konseptong Pinoy na noon pa ma'y naririyan na sa ating kamalayan. Pinalaganap ng Katipunan sa pamamagitan ng Supremo. 


Sa mga Bagong Katipunero, nawa'y makiisa kayo sa Damayang Bayan. Tulungan natin ang ating mga Kabayani na nasalanta ng bagyo sa Isabela gayundin sa ilan pang mga lalawigan sa Hilaga.