CULTURE

Youth Activism Extolled in FQS Mural

January 26, 1970. A throng of protesters consisting mainly of youth and students gathered around the Old Congress building as President Ferdinand E. Marcos delivered his State-of-the-Nation Address.  When Marcos emerged from the building, a makeshift coffin symbolizing the death of democracy was shoved towards him. It was this protest that triggered the series of mass actions now known as the First Quarter Storm of 1970.  A mural depicting the FQS was recently launched in memory of this historic period.

BY VANESSA CORSIGA
Bulatlat

Thirty-six years after the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970, former and present activists launched a mural to commemorate the historic period characterized by intellectual ferment and patriotic fervor.

Bonifacio Ilagan, chairperson of the First Quarter Storm Movement (FQSM), said the mural speaks for itself. Ilagan said everything that can be seen in the mural were the exact slogans and activities they did, that “every element in the mural had been a reality”. The mural, said Ilagan, captures the high points or the important elements of FQS. The project was conceptualized long ago but materialized only recently. FQSM members wanted to launch the mural at the exact spot where the FQS started. The project was carried out in partnership with the city government of Manila.   Ilagan said the significance of the mural lives through and for the youth, otherwise, it would just be a walk down memory lane. It shows among others a group of youth protesters carrying a black coffin on which the word “Democracy” is painted.  It was the cardboard coffin thrown at Marcos as he stepped out of the Old Congress building, now the National Museum, after delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

MORE THAN REMINISCENCE: FQSM chair Bonifacio Ilagan explains the significance of the mural behind him PHOTO BY VANESSA CORSIGA

There are also images of youths in teach-ins, of student activists preparing placards for a rally, and of a protester wielding a copy of Amado Guerrero’s Philippine Society and Revolution.

Using acrylic on canvass, the artists who made the mural were a mixture of young and FQS veterans and are members of Nagkakaisang Progresibong Artista at Arkitekto (NPAA or united progressive artists and architects), Alay Sining-Karatula, Tambisan sa Sining and Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP). They are Boy Dominguez, Art Castillo, Orly Castillo, Babes Alejo, Erwin Pascual, Pedro Alejo, Flon Faurillo and Betsy Alejo.

The mural took five days to finish.

Ramon Magsaysay awardee and University of the Philippines’ professor Bienvenido Lumbera shared his experiences during the tumultuous years of martial law, after he and Manila Vice Mayor Don Bagatsing unveiled the enormous and colorful painting.

Bagatsing on his part said that even though he is a politician and not an activist, he believes the youth should not be indifferent to the call of the times.

“In any healthy democracy, there should always be student activism,” Bagatsing said.

He further enjoined the youth not to be afraid to speak out when they see that there is something wrong with what the elders are doing or with the whole system. The youth, he said, have to get their hands dirty to promote their rights and to fight for what is just.  If they turn a blind eye to what is happening to the nation, said Bagatsing, the country will remain poor and stagnant.

The FQSM hopes that the mural will serve as an inspiration for the youth to get involved in issues the country faces. It is optimistic that the youth will learn from the lessons of the past and will keep the fire of the First Quarter Storm burning. Bulatlat

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