Cartoon by Louise Gabrielle Abing
As students funded by the state, we are obliged to be competent on the right given to us, not solely for our own benefit but we have to be conscious on matters that concern the welfare of others, and that includes issues of dreadful times where war appears to be escalating anywhere. Howbeit, if the cornerstone of a scholar is competence, then it would be plausible to say that this competence is lost, for the majority of MSUans are silent on genocides, and political unrest is the new normal in and out of the motherland. In the rising tensions of wars, one ought to choose whether to mobilize for collective cause to cease it or play 'hide and seek' for the redemption of individual self; it is harrowing to know that the last is perceived to be the best recourse.
For a long time, Mindanao has had this perpetual problem with peace. That's why Mindanao State University (MSU) was established to aid the 'Mindanao Problem'. On the other hand, simple analogy suggests that as much as this institution is concerned with providing justice to society, the take should also be akin to the almost a century-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict that already claimed thousands of lives, given that we, MSUans, have been and are still in crucible times. What is occurring now in Palestine would be the most devasting event ever recorded and broadcasted massacre in history. As of February 10, 2024, the Gazan Health Ministry reported that at least 28,064 Palestinians have been killed and 67,611 others injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, but look how easy it is to turn blind eyes when, in fact, we once lived in the chaos of their shoes. Although data shows dismantling numbers, it is still not enough to ripple awareness, unite everyone to stand amid divisions, and multiply the cost of empathy. Yes, MSU is a Muslim-dominated learning institution, so it is expected that its students will defend the lives of their fellows who are being deprived of freedom to live in their land; however, a plot twist in the aftermath happened, only to find out that a few stood up for the Palestinian people who are in extreme wails.
On the national scene, along with the climatic shift in the Philippines, leaders whom the leverage is entrusted to turn out their battle cry for ‘unity’ tumbledown in their hands, which makes them the epitome of hypocrites seated in the government. Recently, the word war between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former President Rodrigo Duterte engulfed social media in flames, from the smoldering lines of Duterte saying we have a 'bangag' and 'drug addict' president to the retaliating assertion of Marcos revealing the former president has long been taking fentanyl, a very addictive drug. At the critical juncture of Uniteam, this chant emerged: “Away ni sa mga daug. Ayaw mo pag apil² kay pildi mo," an irradical and imbecilic contention for those who glorify the motions of victors in vein. While truth is disheartening as empty rhetoric promises of uniting the Philippines after obtaining the trusts, this political divergence obviously shortens social justice’s longevity by exploiting the Filipinos to fall to a surface of commotion—an alternative white washing tactic for us to forget the deepest sins they blatantly committed in the past up to this date.
Indeed, we all have the right to remain silent in situations that go beyond our control. But our silence in these times where injustices are prevalent is nothing but delivering us to the side of the oppressor, where warfare is normalized by those who lay down the law; thus, no structure of justification would validate its cruelty.
Undeniably, we sound very loud about issues that do not contribute to the thrivation of humanity, but when it comes to ethnic cleansing and other unjustifiable exploitations concerning people being killed and families torn apart, a cacophony of reverberating silence persisted.
Furthermore, we should think twice and three times about why we are here in an institution that seeks excellence and global validation. As scholars, it is up to us whether we actualize the purpose of being so or let our personal interests betray us. Truth be told, we are still far from becoming globally competitive students when participating in social and political movements is considered taboo and being silent amid wars is what we normalize.
Hence, to celebrate World Day of Social Justice” has no sense since injustices still linger in local, national, and international scenes; it is conclusive to celebrate this day when people do not even know what it means to attain justice and how it could be defined through a multifaceted lens. In circumstances where terror happens to a land, in people-to-people and leaders-to-leaders cases, only then can we realize our functions—as Iskolar ng Bayan—to speak with critical minds and think with compassionate hearts by transcending our nature of biases to win the truth. Social justice will forever stand alone as a mere concept, an ideology, and a dream for somebody who is deprived of it, until here we are seeing ourselves channeled to severe suffering, crying, and begging others to break their deafening silence.
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