HOTSPOT

The most beautiful legacy of the First Quarter Storm of 1970 is the idea that young people have roles to play in the country beyond and above what is considered normal or acceptable. It expanded the democratic horizon for us.

Remembering this event and its effects on Philippine politics is important now as historical revisionism propels a Marcos restoration and amid calls for mandatory military service for Filipinos 18 years old and above.

Prior to the events of Jan. 26 to March 17 of 1970, society imposed on young Filipinos a regimen of focusing either on study and work, and to leave politics solely to the politicians.

Because of those events 52 years ago this week, the youth and the rest of the Filipino people rediscovered their sense of agency and realized that, to be genuine and substantive, democracy must be a chore not just shared by all but led by and beneficial to the majority, mostly workers and farmers.

Because of the historic FQS, traditional politicians can no longer just pretend to be democrats. The many organizations and movements born or transformed by the FQS began to hold them to a standard higher than the lowest of the low pegged by traditional politicians themselves.

“Serve the people” was the refreshing call of the FQS. Not serve the government, business, the church or the military. The people have long been told to serve these institutions that quite tragically do not serve them back.

For a nation starved of the direct attention of their intellectuals and educated, that was a pleasant and welcome surprise. Never did they expect to see students of the nation’s top schools, along with engineers, architects, scientists, doctors, nurses, writers, literati, and other professionals humbly go to their communities and their homes. They started with literacy, numeracy, basic health and sanitation. Later, the visitors would learn from their hosts about farming, forestry and local culture. Together, they built movements there of citizens committed to social reform and social change.

Prior to the FQS too, every social problem is traced only to “graft and corruption.” The changemakers of FQS carefully studied Philippine history and social realities, and named imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism as the three basic ills afflicting the nation and stopping us from attaining meaningful progress. The politically-aware workers, farmers and the educated produced a national and democratic program that outlined what needed to be done to make the country free itself from the shackles of foreign powers, and domestic foes that know nothing except live off the backs of the poor.

For traditional politicians, this is pure poison to their dreams of keeping power perpetually and without democratic opposition. For any aspiring dictator, this is an abomination. If the poor and the middle class would always unite in common cause, their days of duplicity, exploitation and plain terror could be over.

It was thus unsurprising that the new dictator would blame the changemakers themselves as a principal reason for placing the country under martial law in 1972. A highly-aware movement committed to full democratization can only be tagged as the main enemy of a dictatorship.

The “once young” of 1970, and the young ones of 2022 can unite around the lessons of the FQS. Militarily, what we need is to defend and preserve Philippine sovereignty against an invading foreign power. Militarily as well, we need to demilitarize the bureaucracy, remove all retired generals who have been appointed to various sensitive posts but have proven to be corrupt or inept, and replace them with the true best and brightest. Further, we must hold accountable those involved in extrajudicial killings and red-tagging. Politically, we need a patriotic, democratic, competent and good leader, especially now that we face the stark prospect of a Marcos restoration. Politically too, we have to finally confront the festering “three basic ills” that have brought us to where we are now.

Mandatory military service is not a solution to any of our most pressing problems. Instead of this, we should promote and expand programs encouraging our many educated people to serve in the provinces. Yes, to serve the people. One such program is the Doctors To The Barrios, as well as "basic masses integration" initiatives of organizations. That way, we unite the cities and the provinces, educate our young people about the concrete situation, bridge the gap between the privileged and the poor, and inspire the country to achieve national democracy.