WE, YOUNG Filipinos, shall lead fellow citizens in a protest action to be held in the afternoon of September 20, 2019, the last working day before the 47th anniversary of the declaration of the Marcos Martial Law. We stand together to resist another authoritarian regime that is accountable for so many social ills which we no longer want to persist.
We are adamant against abuse and corruption. We decry the freeing of big-time criminals and plunderers while our government is hell-bent to arrest and jail activists, critics, church leaders, the poor and the young. This is exemplified by the case of ex-mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was almost released despite the heinous crimes he and his police escorts committed against young victims Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez.
We call to stop the branding of young activists as well as community leaders, intellectuals, educators and advocates as terrorists and enemies of the state. We slam desperate attempts by the current administration to pacify and silence our ranks through attempts to monitor and militarize our school campuses.
We seek an end to extrajudicial killings, which target mostly the poor and defenseless. We condemn the intensified bombings and militarization of communities and schools in the countryside which adversely affect the lives and livelihood of civilians. We yearn for peace that is based on justice and genuine respect for human rights.
We support the struggle for land reform and rural development, and sympathize with our farmers who are currently suffering because of the falling prices of rice. We support the indigenous peoples’ fight for self-determination and ancestral domain. We likewise support the workers’ struggles for regularization, higher wages and better working conditions.
We protest against Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea. We are gravely disappointed over the defeatist stance of our own government by choosing not to fully assert our rights over our own territory and by ignoring the arbitral ruling that favorably recognizes our claim.
We call on our fellow Filipinos regardless of age, sector or group to support our cause. Our future as a country can only be sustained if we, the young generation, are taught to fight for, and not to compromise, the values that make for a great nation.
We collectively resolve to never again allow a dictatorship to take place in this country.
(Statement of Youth Act Now Against Tyranny)
