Activists...

[nicolodeon]

I was following the news last night on my way home and heard that students tried to protest (a near daily occurrence once classes starts) at the US Embassy. Cops stopped the group and and according to the news person, a number of students got hurt.

During my time in university more nearly two decades ago, activism against the US government was quite high, as student activists were chanting "Marcos tuta ng Kano" then a few years later "Cory tuta ng Kano." A few were really anti-American. A number of my schoolmates were quite active in these protests. I remember asking them in jest this question "What if fate brings you to America to work? Would you go?" A number of them emphatically said "Heck no!"

Some months back, I bumped into an old schoolmate - who was once an avid activist. So we exchanged pleasantries, did some chit-chat and talked about our lives. So asked him how he was and what he does for a living. He told me he is a PT - in America.

Now why am I grinning, you might ask? It's because this buddy of mine was one of the guys who shook their head in an emphatic 'NO' when I asked my question. So I kind of ribbed him about it. He just laughed and told me quite a number of our friends who joined in those rallies were now based in the US. So I asked him what changed his mind. His answer: economic/financial need. He also uttered this statement: "Pare, tama ka. Mahirap palang lagyan ng period or exclamation point ang bawat sentence. Kinain ko mga sinabi ko 'nun."

To the reader who read this post: don't get me wrong. I'm neither pro-American or anti-American. I've worked for and with American companies in the last 8-10 years and I've seen the good and bad of things - or so I may think.

I'm just wondering if those students in the news last night would wind up like that buddy of mine who ate his words: after college would they succumb to economic/financial needs and go to work in the US - or any foreign country for that matter?

Chances are, they might...they just might.

[CoDer]

Heheheee... Activist?




Never mind.

[redorange]

I remember when I was going to college in Manila some of my activist classmates asked me to join them in their rally against the US not knowing that I was Fil-Am. I just said no and asked them where they're going after the rally and they said they would eat at either KFC or McDo. I questioned their anti-American views since they would eat at American businesses instead of Jollibee or Max fried chicken and go to the rally wearing their Levi's jeans and Nike shoes.

To your friend who is now in the US, I wonder if he disclosed to the US Embassy his anti-American views when he was interviewed.

[coiter]

sometimes reality simply wins over ideals/principles. ibig sabihin hindi talaga ganun katibay ang convictions nila dati. baka nadala lang sila ng emotions nila nun. and when they finally experienced how hard life is (work, bringing up a family, etc), naisip nila na mas importanteng mabuhay ng tahimik kesa mamatay ng lumalaban. basic survival instinct.

pwede rin naman na narealize nila yung futility of their actions, kay 'live to fight another day' na lang.

siguro kahit papano we could praise them for at least trying (as long as their ideals are logical). at sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, it's not a surprise na mangyayari talaga yung paglimot o pagisang tabi sa pinaglalaban nila.

[uls]

Hindi na-su-sustain ng mga activists ang "lifestyle" nila na puro rally rally. Sooner or later kelangan parin nila kumita ng pera.

Most of those "activists" we see on tv are young people who live with their parents. Pag uwi nila sa bahay meron sila makakain.

But their parents will get old, get sick, and die. So time will come pag uwi nila galing sa rally, wala sila makain.

And they will also have kids... and they will realize "magastos pala magka-anak"

Dun na nila ma-iisip na hindi pala magandang career ang pag rarally.

hehe

[v6dreamer]

There were so many anti american back in the 70's and present, but cannot really explained their objective. My brother in-law(married to my cousin) he was a die hard anti american activist in the 70's and he hated us too just because wa are all live here in america. Now most of his sibling are now living here and he was talking about following theme too. I guess, he dont mean nothing!

The question is..... What did the american do in our country that, why so much hate towards theme?

If pilipinos dont like the american, why wants to watch there Hollywood movie and cannot refuse the GREEN or those what we called stateside?

[mbeige]

Most of the changes rallyists are protesting against, only span a certain time frame. Beyond that, it's a different story already. So they don't have anything to cry foul about, and move on with their lives, accepting reality as it is.

[niky]

Being a UP boy... and an American Citizen (my mother is an American... Mom and Dad met up and got married in New York)... I've seen both sides of the coin.

The reason for the hatred against the Americans is the perceived and actual meddling of the US government in local politics... first by their annexing of the Philippines from Spain and denial of outright independence, and then by the support they poured into the (oft-times corrupt) government as part of their general "anti-communist" drive.

It's those actions in the 60s-80s that has generated the most anti-American sentiment worldwide. In order to supress what they viewed as the rising tide of communism in the third world, the US government lent its support to a lot of corrupt, dictatorial leaders. Marcos, for one...

Yes, at that time, and even up till now, Philippine politics is affected greatly by US foreign policy. Strange, though, that people would chant "Cory, Tuta ng Kano" since she earned the ire of the US government because of the reconciliatory stance she had towards rebels.

But what this has to do with our current situation? Absolutely jack-sh*t. Nothing. While some of the blame for the current oil crisis may be laid at the feet of George Dubya, he wasn't the one who started the war between Islamic radicalism and the US... Osama bin Laden is.

Pero activists can't see that. They think that the world is black and white... that if there's a problem, there has to be a culprit. And can the culprit be the communists, islamic fanatics or the terrorists? No, it's got to be the "establishment". Trying to talk sense with these guys is like talking to a brain-dead parrot. Which is a shame. Many of these kids are otherwise very intelligent people.

----

But when they grow older, they grow up. Realize that the world isn't simply black and white, and learn to live in the real world. Remember, Bill Clinton was an activist in college... and yet he became President of the United States.

[Memphis Raines]

Indeed most of them become hypocrites in the end when their fuel for idealism runs out. Their beliefs are eventually exposed to the reality of our way of life and our dependency to other countries for coexistence.

Heck, I even saw a protester using a US made Sheriff's BullHorn in their rally

.

[B2Bomber]

chancer are... some of them might.

just sharing too. back in uni days, one thing that I noticed was that there are always this "same people" who would always be present whichever uni went on strike/rally. this "same people" are not even students of these different unis. they're far too old to be. I even saw the "same people" when the RCPI employees in session road went on strike.

What's more intriguing is that they are more "active" than the people who are suppose to be on strike/rally. Which really got me thinking, if say students of a certain uni or employess of a certain coy really wanted to get something across, and they have the guts to go on strike/rally, then they ought to do it on their own. 'Coz the thing with having these "same people" and them being more active is that the original rallyists' points might get drowned out by these "same people"'s own agenda.

I just hope if students go on strikes, that they wouldn't bother those other students who want to go and attend the class and don't stigmatize them by labelling them "rich kids", "indifferent", etc., etc. Some students may share your cause but they have their own causes too -- their thought/idea that with their education, they can alleviate their family's status.

[niky]

chancer are... some of them might.

just sharing too. back in uni days, one thing that I noticed was that there are always this "same people" who would always be present whichever uni went on strike/rally. this "same people" are not even students of these different unis. they're far too old to be. I even saw the "same people" when the RCPI employees in session road went on strike.

What's more intriguing is that they are more "active" than the people who are suppose to be on strike/rally. Which really got me thinking, if say students of a certain uni or employess of a certain coy really wanted to get something across, and they have the guts to go on strike/rally, then they ought to do it on their own. 'Coz the thing with having these "same people" and them being more active is that the original rallyists' points might get drowned out by these "same people"'s own agenda.

I just hope if students go on strikes, that they wouldn't bother those other students who want to go and attend the class and don't stigmatize them by labelling them "rich kids", "indifferent", etc., etc. Some students may share your cause but they have their own causes too -- their thought/idea that with their education, they can alleviate their family's status.

Tumpak!

I hate those "career" activists!

Rallyists think that these "supporters" have their best interests in mind? Ha! How wrong they are!

I personally witnessed one rally, during a SONA. Priests and nuns in the foreground peacefully demonstrating in front of the police. Then, you could see something happening in the back of the crowd... radicals in the back, on some cue, started collecting concrete blocks and stones. All of a sudden, these stones were flying twenty feet in the air, over the heads of the other rallyists and at the police.

It was a riot. While the saboteurs snuck away, the cameras were left focusing on police lobbing tear gas at the crowd and arresting nuns and priests. Planado... they started a fight just to get TV coverage. And they let the innocent clergy in the front take the heat for them.

Ganyan din naman sa mga KMU-organized strikes. The KMU comes in... convinces the workers to strike, and once the factory is shuttered, they leave them high and dry. (This has happened time and again in the CALABARZON).

Ibang klase talaga.

[XTO]

those people / students are just full of enthusiasm. they only think of themselves, their friends, their girlfriends/boyfriends for the moment. - no own families in short. after graduation they will diminish in strength, (going to their chosen field for personal purpose) then mapapalitan na naman ng mga bagong sibol.

though may mga maiiwan, majority of these called activists will be among the future known politicians – sila ang magaling mang uto ng masa, because all they know is pumutak against the government – syempre yung mga mahihirap, kung sino kalaban ng gobyerno doon sila papanig. sa kanila kakampi at boboto.- nagpapakilala na habang mga bata pa…

yung mga sikat na politicians ngayon, try to backtrack kung saan sila nanggaling?

politics – what a great profession

[fourtheboys96]

recently, nakakwentuhan namin ni misis yung isang kaibigan niya na kagagaling lang sa US. meron siya binisita ng mga college friends at isa dun sa mga binisita niya ay dating aktibista. tawa nga sila ng tawa kasi may pa rally rally pa daw dati tapos ngayon andun sa US.

[mazdamazda]

Well, that's because most of these "activists" don't have enough real-world experience to back their talk up.

Which leads them to quickly jump to conclusions based on gossips and half-truths. They don't think about the long-term implication and consequences - it's just a spur of the moment thing coupled with the bandwagon mentality.

What's more irritating are these "career activists" that someone mentioned earlier.

As I've said before, you can do better things with your time and effort than join these rallies. Volunteering in an NGO is one thing, instead of shouting your lungs out while no one listens you can instead make a real change / difference in another person's life.




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[uls]

Napapansin nyo ba ABSCBN (TV Patrol/Bandila) allots a lot of free airtime for activists to speak their mind? (anti-govt, anti-business)

While ABSCBN's lifeblood is revenues from sale of expensive commercial airtime to corporations?

[theveed]

Dito sa forum palang meron na eh heheheh.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Hmmm. What's interesting is when I was there, I had absolutely no interest in politics. I can't recall any anti-US rallies back then. But, I can recall one sincere friend who was allegedly NPA by his own admission. Kinda gave me the goosebumps when he told me. But, he said they were after only those who were corrupt. Weird. Very weird. He never threatened me nor tried the brainwash bit. As far as I was concerned he was a friend, nothing more.

My sister was a 2x UP grad as well. I don't know if she was an activist. Quite frankly, I don't care. But, I wouldn't be surprised if she was. She never did go back to the US like I did.

[jonski]

Yung mga KMU and Gabriela...naghihirap daw sila pero dami nila nababayran pang rally.

yung mga distant relative namnin sa batangas dapat meron na silang sariling lupa na bibigay sana ng goverment pero kinausap sila ng mga KMU and Gabriela at sinabi wag daw painwalaan mga sundalo kaya ayon hindi sla pumayag sa treaty sa goverment. Yung kabilang bayan ay nagbigyan na ng sariling lupa at bagong public school..samantalang sila ay wala paring titulo at sila daw yung magdalas nakasakay sa mga jeep papuntang edsa para magrally.

[Pong]

Activists. Maski anong panahon yata di nagbabago ang rhetoric ng mga ito. "Ibagsak ang ganito, ibagsak ang ganoon." "Ipaglaban ang karapatan ng mahihirap, dukha, urban poor, at kung anu-ano pang ek-ek." Lansagin ang rehimeng US-Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, etc." Awa ng Diyos, di naman nagbabago ang sitwasyon ng Pinas. Too much idealism, puro bunganga, kulang naman sa gawa. Ang akin lang, imbes na puro reklamo ang gawin nila, tumulong na lang sila. Tulad na lang ng nabanggit na mag-NGO na lang sila. Yun bang praktikal na pagtulong. Diyan asar na asar ang dad ko dati. Lalo na yung kaibigan ng sister niya na kung maririnig mo nga naman sa mga family gatherings nila dati e aakalain mong true-blue,die-hard na aktibista. This was in the late 60's. Ang dialog niya naman daw e, "Go home yankee!". Hehehe, ayun nasa NY at kumokolekta ng pension niya kay Uncle Sam! Another cousin in the mid-70's went to UP and took up Law. Panay pakita sa akin ng mga underground books (mostly Communist-related reads). Ano naman pakialam ko dun? Anyway, nag-graduate ang loka. Represented the "peasants, urban poor, and farmers" during her first few years as a lawyer. E laging manok, baboy, gulay ,at prutas ang bayad sa kanya. Gutom siya, ayun pumasok sa isang kilalang law firm pagkatapos. Reality bites.

[morrissey_05]

honestly, when i hear stories of former activists selling out, and i have heard a lot, hypocritical is one word that comes to my mind. but i cant blame them much. at some point in time, they had to make decisions and to be realistic. maybe, its all part of their process. they would not be the people they are, and some of them are very nice people, if they didnt go through all of that.

also, blame it on the programme of the movement. its tailor-made to reel in the young, idealistic and very impressionistic student. but when that student starts to read beyond Joma's PSR et al, they will discover that there is a whole new different discourse out there that can supplant everything that was brain-washed on them by the Nat-Dems.