Remember, remember the 30th of December
A blue-blooded mason was shot
We know of no reason
Why this blue-blooded mason
Should ever be forgot
Good day!
Allow us first to apologize for this intrusion of ours. We do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. We enjoy them as much as anyone would. But in the spirit of commemoration - whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the beginning of some bloody revolution, are celebrated with a nice holiday. We thought we could mark this December the 30th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking sometime out of our daily lives to sit down and think for a while.
There are of course those who do not want us to speak. In fact even now, as they read through this, they are already closing their minds to the truth that we speak and brand us as cowards and mere ranters. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words are the means to meaning; for those who will listen – the enunciation of truth. And the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country and our own Ateneo community. We have cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression, poverty and suffering – all these feasting upon our apathy, ignorance, and inaction. But while some have the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you are called destabilizers and anarchists – coercing your conformity, and soliciting your submission and consent. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others. They will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only to look at a mirror. We know why you did it. You were afraid, who wouldn't be? With everyone trying to live a happy, care-free, and comfortable life, only someone deranged would go out of his/her way and act. Everyone is pre-occupied with the worries and demands of mere living – getting high grades, being appreciated by parents, connecting with friends, finding a life-partner, celebrating victories and achievements, mourning over failures and disappointments. There were a myriad of problems that conspire to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear, apathy, and inaction got the best of you. You are resigned to conform and remain silent.
This year, we sought to end that silence. This year, the Society disturbed you from your dwellings of comfort, to remind you what you have forgotten. More than 100 years ago, a group of young men dreamt of a nation that is theirs and the greatest of them died a martyr's death by gunfire. Our only hope is that his death will not be in vain. We may be free from the colonizers of past, but are we truly a nation worthy of the blood of our heroes? Do our actions give honor to the people who came before us and to the future that lies beyond us? Fairness, justice, freedom, democracy, and nationhood are more than just words. They are perspectives. So if you see nothing, if the crime of inaction remains unknown to you, we would suggest that you allow the 30th of December to pass unmarked. But if you see what we see, if you feel as we feel, and if you would seek as we seek. Then prove yourselves worthy to be called the hope of the motherland. Take a stand and stop thinking of yourself alone! Futures are destroyed for every second of your inaction.
If only we can be true men and women of a nation forged in the blood of heroes - only then can we give that blue-blooded mason, a 30th of December that shall never, ever be forgot!
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Gadfly Society
http://gadflysociet y.blogspot. com
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