To stand is to assert

Stand up when the powers that be order you to sit down, and you've given a fine example of defiance. Against a Goliath, a David stood his ground and showed courage.

Filipino ship captain of Green Aura, Manolo Ebora, defied the China Coast Guard’s instruction to steer away from Panatag Shoal, and keep away from it. He responded peacefully and made his stand stating that they were in Philippine waters and not China’s. We believe that the social impact of this incident to us Filipinos gives us strength and courage to go against a superpower.

Philippines has been colonized for many years, the Spaniards being the longest colonizers for more than three centuries, and defiance was not a rare occurrence back then. According to Fernando A. Santiago Jr. in his book entitled “Manners of Resistance: Symbolic Defiance of Colonial Authority in Nineteenth Century Philippines” (2015), Filipinos resisted and fought back every day, and gave hope to the hopeless. Times have changed and defiance is not the norm anymore, we’re now living in a peaceful time where wars are against the morals of society. Ever since sovereignty was acknowledged for each country, the ideology of colonialism ended.

This very act of defiance has given us Filipinos the chance to speak up for our sovereign rights and jurisdiction. Scarborough Shoal is closer to us, China’s Nine-Dash Line was never acknowledged by the World, they only recognize it within themselves. Scarborough Shoal is within the 200-km Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines. The UN Tribunal declared it as Traditional Fishing Ground on July 12, 2016 but the control over it will be under the Philippines. This makes us more legible for the jurisdiction of Scarborough Shoal and we should speak up and fight.

This incident marked and proved that we can still stand against China; we just need a little more push and motivation. We just have to gain the support we need, the support from our own administration. But it seems like we’re not getting any of that sooner. Now the least that we can do as Filipinos is to keep on fighting for what is ours. To help educate our fellow men regarding this issue because we need every support we can get. If the higher officials won’t stand for us, then we, Filipinos, stand for ourselves. We stand for our country.

An act of bravery is nothing new to us Filipinos. As stated, we’ve been colonized for years, and we have been fighting since then. Our heroes left us with a legacy - to stand for what is ours. Jose Rizal declared to be our national hero, renowned for his works. Rizal uses literature instead of force to express his defiance towards the Spaniards. Through his works he aimed to awaken nationalism within every Filipino. The quill was his bow, words were his arrows. On the contrary, we have Andres Bonifacio, founder and leader of the nationalist society Katipunan, who incited revolt against the Spaniards.

They have been a great example of people that we must follow, together with the 200 Filipino troops and workers of the Cavity Munity, the millions of people who joined the EDSA People Power revolt, and the Filipino protesters who defied Beijing’s invasion.

Despite all these, today, we still cower behind the back of US in our fight against China, especially now that our president has favored China more than the US because it is quite plausible that our president will not stand against China, or rather, cannot fight back.

For that, we Filipinos stand on our own, all these acts of courage and defying a much bigger and powerful entity sparks nationalism within us, that we, people of today, must keep this little spark burning, and not let it burn out, until it becomes a massive fire, ignited with our sense of being a Filipino.

Putting these people up front, we must learn from them and their experiences. They were not only fighting for their glory but for the glory of our country, so we must too.

Lorraine B. Cabajes

Pablo Y. Bonono

Political Science students

University of San Carlos