Tibak Rising: Activism in the Days of Martial Law

(http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/2012/V26n3/TibakRising.htm)

A brief summary when the said “student activists” made a statement years ago to let the
government know where they stand from the declaration of Martial Law. A resistance that started
from one university and made an impact to others to join them fight against Martial Law. Those
times were the beginning of a resistance which were made up of students who want to make a
stand against the law made by the government in that time. The period of Martial Law was a time
of living dangerously due to the restrictions under that law. Many went underground so that they
will not be noticed or joined the armed struggle to. Some carried on with resistance in open and
legal forms but whatever the path one chose to follow, the dangers remained the same. Every
tale told in many circles highlights the courage of those who resisted and inspires others. And so,
others carry on and we never run out of brave moments. Those were the times that if you want to
make a point you got to have a plan of action for people to see what you are fighting for. For both
opposing sides, it was also a turning point, one reaffirming traditions of centralism and the other
moving on in another direction in post fascist democratic space. And until this day activism still
continues students fighting for what is right and just to the people.

A is for Anakbayan and other activist terms in the Philippines

(https://www.bulatlat.com/2015/08/20/a-is-for-anakbayan-and-other-activist-terms-in-the-
philippines/)

Anakbayan is a youth group/resistance established in 1998 which became prominent in

Edsa Dos and during the campaign for the abolition of ROTC. The youth took over after the fight
or protest against Martial Law that happened a few years before the said instances. Well, in the
later years the term has become synonymous with collaborationism and opportunism. The
research focuses mainly on “student activists” which anakbayan is one example of a group or
resistance which consist of young or student activists. In some groups there are also “student
activists” fighting for other rights. Gabriela is a group/resistance of women activists and an alliance
of advocates of women rights. This group or resistance focuses mainly on the rights of women
may it be adult or young adult here in the Philippines.

Student Activism, Mental Health, and English-Canadian Universities in the 1960s

(https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/chr.92.3.455)

Activists increasingly saw the university as an institution hopelessly mired in moral

contradiction, incapable of cultivating the social environment necessary for healthy personal
development, and they challenged fundamental assumptions about what the term mental health
really meant. Without the student activists noticing what is really happening in the
university/institution their will be no clear assumption on mental health. Also, they noticed the lack
of knowledge of the university on how important social environment is to students who are dealing
with mental health problems in those times. The president of cus observed in the fall of that year
that, although they had figured out how to ‘get action’ by administrators through their surveys and
symposia, their success raised new problems. ‘Student mental health stuff can be used to adjust
the student to the system, rather than open up the student so that he can be fully critical and
participating,’ he wrote to his colleagues. ‘Also, it can be a thing that an administration will offer
with the hope that the students will no longer bother about other issues on campus.’ He argued
that the reverse should be true: ‘the whole university environment problem’ should be addressed
through the question of mental health. Those who posed the question of who was actually sick –
the students, or, metaphorically, the university or society as a whole – often drew on the popular
concept of alienation, a word that, said one American activist, ‘loses none of its importance
through its prominence in a thousand cliche´s.’ Students used the term to describe their sense
that they had no voice or agency in the university, no feeling of connection with a place that
seemed alien to the values they espoused or wanted to examine.

Philippine Student Activists

(https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00875R001500040020-6.pdf)

Although students have discovered the magic of politics, their political sophistication is not
high. For all of their expressions of dismay with the oligarchy, the students have a faulty
appreciation of the ills that beset the country. For example, their complaints about the short
comings of higher education center on high tuition rates, the “commercialization” of education,
poor instruction, and lack of academic freedom. All these criticisms are valid, but student leaders
have failed to zero in on a most significant failing of the Philippine educational system that it is
educating students for unemployment by emphasizing liberal arts program over more practical
training. The students are trained for jobs that do not exist, and the unemployment rate among
new graduates is extremely high. For example, six candidates apply for every available teaching
position. The government has proposed changes but has run into strong opposition from the
students, who continue to equate success with white collar or professional employment. Student
activists have denounced the government’s suggested reforms as schemes to undermine student
political power. Students also have a strong propensity for seeing political problems in terms of
personalities.

Human rights activist scholars and social change in Hong Kong: reflections on the
Umbrella Movement and beyond
(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2018.1562912)

Activist scholars and students dominated the scene of the Umbrella Movement. It was a
movement driven by the initiatives from the academic sphere. Their joint forces facilitated the
launch of the movement and largely increased the scale of the protest. The following is a reflection
on the role of human rights activist scholars in the social movement. The protest that happened
in Hong Kong had a big impact on the country’s economic and tourist’s growth. It was both a
struggle and a big impact for the country because the movement affected a lot of major economies
in Hong Kong. The Umbrella Movement has generated many young political activists. According
to an informal survey, 61% of the OC protestors were 29 years old or below, and 24% were
between 30–39 years old. After the Umbrella Movement, there were several directions of
development of young people’s political participation. Many young people became politically
active since the Umbrella Movement. Somewhat the same but, as here in the country some
activist group join forces because they have a similar problem that is needed to be noticed by the
people. Groups such as Anakbayan and Gabriela may sometimes have similarities in giving out
their own piece of mind about a certain issue.