21/09/2026
Fiftyโfour years ago, on ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฐ was declared under ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ก๐ผ. ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ด๐ญ. What was promised as stability became a reign of fear. Amnesty International records that 70,000 Filipinos were arrested, 34,000 tortured, and 3,240 killed. Beyond the brutality, corruption flourished, with 5 to 10 billion US dollars stolen from the nationโs coffers. These are not just statistics but lives interrupted, families broken, and futures stolen. Yet, from the shadows of repression rose courage. Students, workers, farmers, and ordinary citizens resisted, proving that even in the darkest nights, the flame of freedom cannot be extinguished.
As a community of debaters and student leaders, we affirm that memory is resistance. To forget is to surrender, and to distort history is to betray those who fought and fell. The courage of those who resisted dictatorship reminds us that freedom is never given freely. It must be defended with vigilance. Their defiance is the inheritance we carry today.
On this anniversary, we stand with the nation in declaring: ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง. ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ. We commit to using dialogue, debate, and critical thought as tools to guard against tyranny, to challenge distortion, and to keep alive the lessons of history.
The Sumpakil Debate Society remembers, resists, and continues to fight for truth and freedom. We honor the past, we guard the present, and we carry the responsibility of shaping a future where tyranny has no place.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐!
๐๏ธ: Jermaine John Durana
