Nothing, indeed, is set in stone.
After an entire school year of evading activist organizing work due to disillusionment upon entering the university, I have decided to join the State of the Nation Address (SONA) mobilization today.
This return is, in many respects, similar and different at the same time. It was also during SONA that I first joined a rally when I was in high school. Like last time, it was the rancor and decreasing faith toward our institutions that led me to the streets. But the president delivering this year’s SONA is no longer the tyrant whose bloodlust drove me to activism. And unlike the last time, I joined the mobilizations as a mere citizen, not as part of any progressive organization.
And yet, some things remain the same—Whereas government instrumentalities were actively facilitating then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s carnage against the poor and activists, state apparatuses now reveal that their repressive function remains under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.
A few days ago, the Supreme Court issued a decision deeming unconstitutional the House of Representatives’ articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte. This ruling happened against the backdrop of a slew of typhoons that left many, including me, stranded at our dorms while the billions-worth flood control projects failed to mitigate the costs of the disaster.
Yet these are only tipping points. The hard shell I built to insulate me from activism is slowly being chipped away with the many dilemmas—both personal and political–befalling us in the past months.
As my past articles have demonstrated, too, I am increasingly convinced that we can only surmount this by doing so together. The stonecutter must be leveled against the systemic boulders blocking progress—that is, break or be broken.
But this does not mean that my distrust of the student movement has dissipated altogether. I am still wary about the cases of impunity in some progressive spaces. So at this point, I do not know what exactly my return will look like. I may be an occasional participant in a protest or try another organization beyond the youth sector.
This much, however, is certain: I will try to return, slowly. I said in my first column that I will resort to writing in the Collegian “while I figure out all that is puzzling me.” But now, I have resolved that this is my last piece. I will reckon with my confusion in the movement by directly engaging with it now.
How this will look remains in question. Nothing is set in stone, anyway. ●
First published in the July 28, 2025, print edition of the Collegian.
