ILOCANDIA RUMBLINGS

As the year comes to a close, the people of Ilocos take pride that they braved and overcame the odds and challenges thrown by US-Benigno C. Aquino regime, and the fledgling presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. The period is characterized by three significant campaigns – the demand for Aquino’s accountability as his regime ends, the battle against traditional politics during the election, and the consolidation of people’s demands to challenge the new administration under Rodrigo Duterte. The militant mass movement and the people of Ilocos persisted in their struggles for genuine economic and social transformation amidst the intensified implementation of Oplan Bayanihan. They launched wide-spread education and information campaign on burning social issues. They trooped the streets, engaged the public, and questioned the authorities to spread their desire and platform for genuine democracy social justice, progressive culture and industrialization. Makabayan chapters and allies in the regio...

(The original article was published by Northern Dispatch in September 2015. Photo grab from http://planetphilippines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/headline.jpg) My mother and father have not yet bumped  to each other when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, so I can never claim firsthand experience on the matter. I rarely tell my friends that I grew in family who are fervent Marcos loyalist (especially my mother’s side), usually eaves dropping with conversations regarding the benefits from the declaration – the order it brought, the supposed development, and many more. In high school, I even choose to be part of the group who favored the declaration of martial law during a classroom discussion on the issue. This is the only instance that I can remember where the topic was deliberated with a certain degree of importance. I learned the extent and depth of martial law’s meaning and result when I attended a forum organized by the student council in a university I once attended....

(This is Ilocandia Rumblings’ maiden piece and before we enjoy reading, let me give you a short introduction.) Ilocandia Rumblings was conceived to bring to the readership of Northern Dispatch some insights on and analyses of the issues and events in the Ilocos Region – mainly the provinces of La Union, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte from the point of view and standpoint of the oppressed and exploited. This blog aims to expand its reach and readers, and make the aspirations of the hardworking people west of the Cordillera; the rumblings in the peasant communities, workplaces, coastal areas and slums, reverberate in the web. In order to get to the bottom of every issue and event that will be written here, this writer will immerse in the communities and the different sectors in the Ilocos region, listen to the roars and whispers of people, and witness the transformation of society. It shall dissect Ilocos society and expound on It shall express the ideas and thoughts of the...