A second quarter storm?

In recent days, it has been noticeable that the young in the Philippines are rising up again to political and social challenges.

There was a time that it seemed the young did not want to be involved.

They were busy with their own careers or just keeping body and soul together or thinking of working abroad. But today the political  situation has roused them.

For one, I would credit them for the victory, even if temporary, against the cybercrime law. The second crop of political activists have new weapons that I am afraid are more formidable than any that the first quarter storm young had. The same fervor is there but they are also techies. By the time they are out on the streets, their backs are well covered by their computer expertise and social media.

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I met the young participants of the first quarter storm in 1970. Some of them are in comfortable jobs and others have raised families. In other words, they did their best at a time that being young and idealistic despite risks to life and limb were called for. Nelson Navarro, Chito Sta. Romana. Gary Olivar, Jerry Barican were among the names I remember. They came to the house because I had just written “The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos.” It was threatened with suppression by the Marcoses. They befriended me because we had the same cause for freedom of the press in those perilous times. They would tell me stories of how they would evade police harassment in the streets and sometimes they had to hide in apartments until the coast was clear. The apartment owners would shelter them. The excitement of those times eventually petered out and they grew out of their brave recklessness.

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All social media users are threatened by the cybercrime law and despite denials from Congress, computer users know it is a weapon to defang political free expression in the Internet. Many would be in sympathy with the cause but as it was in the first quarter storm, few could be counted to go into battle or to wade into the streets to dare bullets and batons. But times have changed.

When the cybercrime law was first announced, I decided to go to their protest in front of the Supreme Court to be with them.

Although I am an older techie, social media like Facebook and search engines like Google are boons to any writer of whatever age writing at this time with the suffusion of information. At the protest they were wearing the Guy Fawkes masks. The mask was adopted to depict Guy Fawkes as the leaders of the Gunpowder Plot. The group threatened to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605. They still celebrate Guy Fawkes day in London with spectacular fireworks.

The mask is a white face with a subtle smile and red cheeks, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard.

Wikipedia adds that “after appearing in internet forums, the mask became the trademark symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous.”

As the Supreme Court deliberated the TRO on the cybercrime law they held vigils and true to techie habits were taking snapshots of each other to post in Facebook.

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The second quarter storm looks shaping up with different youth groups coming together so the cybercrime law TRO becomes a permanent restraining order.

“The TRO extension is a fruit of our collective action. But our fight is far from over,” says Kabataan Party-list president Atty. Terry Ridon. An indefinite temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted by the Supreme Court on Feb. 5. The young techies succeeded because they were visible in their collective stand against RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Law.

I was not able to go to this protest but if it was anything like the first I am sure it had a festive atmosphere with protesters wearing their Guy Fawkes masks.

“But if there is a stronger factor than of the petitioners’ arguments, it is definitely the active participation of the Filipinos, especially the youth, in our protest actions to continuously show the government that backing down from our call of junking this law is not our option,” says Ridon.

The Supreme Court must see that RA 10175 is unconstitutional.

Justice Roberto Abad said the law is “bad” because someone can be held liable just by “liking,” “retweeting,” or sharing online even if he is not the original author of a “libelous” online statement.

“Isn’t it a clear deprivation of our freedom of expression and a clear violation of Article 3 Section 4 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution? What democratic country will jail a citizen just because he showed disapproval of someone else’s opinion?” Ridon argued.

“The grounds are clear for SC to junk the law. RA 10175 is unconstitutional and repressive in its nature. So as long as SC can only offer a TRO rather than a permanent one, the Filipinos should never lay low in slamming the Cybercrime Law. Like what we said, our fight isn’t over because from the very beginning, we ask for it to be totally junked and not just be postponed,” Ridon said.

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They do not limit themselves to opposing the cybercrime law. One active group Anakbayan listed members of the so-called ‘Akbayan Mafia’ in the National Anti-Poverty Commission. These members were in sensitive positions in the government agency and were now allegedly in charge of the distribution of the controversial coco levy funds, said Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of Anakbayan.

Anakbayan is the comprehensive mass organization of the Filipino youth, advocating genuine national independence and democracy as a solution to the nation’s problems. It is open to anyone from 13 to 35 years old, and has 20,000 members in the Philippines and in several cities in the US, Canada and Australia.

It is not a party-list group and is in no way affiliated with the pro-Aquino group Akbayan.

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Here is a selected passage of Jose Rizal’s tribute to Filipino youth.

“Humayo ka ngayon, papagningasin mo

ang alab ng iyong isip at talino

maganda mong ngala’y ikalat sa mundo

at ipagsigawan ang dangal ng tao.”