UPLB SIGMA RHO FRATERNITY

On February 25, 1986, the Filipino people achieved what many deemed impossible during the dark regime of the dictator Marcos Sr., fueled by decades of suppressed rage culminating from years of systemic struggle - of student activists who vanished in the night, of journalists who refused to be silenced, and of the countless Filipino people who endured the biting cold of injustice long before they felt the warmth of the sun at the barricades. Today, as we mark the 40th Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, we remember it not as a recount of a historical event, but a reaffirmation of the fundamental truth that sovereignty resides in the people, a collective confrontation with a regime that had violated and plundered the country and its people for too long without consequence.

The struggle was not merely political, but a battle for the very soul of the Filipino; a struggle fought to end a dictator who had bled the economy dry, leaving a generation in debt while a few lived in opulence. The people did not gather for the sake of a color or a single political dynasty; this was not the story of the Aquinos or the Cojuangcos - it was the story of the nameless student who stayed awake for seventy-two hours at the barricades, the factory worker who shared his last meal with a stranger, and the mother who stood her ground against a literal tank, all for the sake of a future where no single name could ever again hold the power to blink out a life with impunity.

Forty years later, the faces of the struggle have changed, but the stakes remain the same. We see the return of familiar names at the highest seats of government. We face continuous challenges of historical amnesia and deliberate attempts to sanitize and distort history. We still suffer from the systemic corruption that people of power continue to capitalize on for their own personal gain without facing accountability. But the return of these names does not invalidate the victory of the people at EDSA in 1986; it only underscores the failure of accountability that followed, it is a reminder that democracy only endures when there are citizens ready to take a stand. It proves that a revolution is not a single act of protest, but a continuous process of holding the powerful to answer for their crimes.

The UPLB Sigma Rho Fraternity continues to honor the millions who gathered at EDSA and the spirit of the revolution that reclaimed the freedom of the Filipino people. We continue to stand against the injustices, state-sponsored violence, and the rewriting of our history, until the accountability we, as Filipinos, demanded forty years ago is finally and fully realized for every Filipino.

𝐋𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐊𝐒𝐘𝐎𝐍, 𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘𝐎𝐍

For decades, farmers have tilled the soil that feeds our nation, yet they remain landless, voiceless, and abandoned. Generations have passed, yet genuine land reform remains an unfulfilled promise. Land titles imposed by imperialist colonizers continue to dictate ownership, tolerated and protected by the very “public servants” who swore to dismantle them.

Day by day, the size of our nation’s farmlands continues to shrink, while the vast holdings of corrupt political dynasties and landlords expand unchecked. Instead of empowering local producers, the state continues to flood our markets with imported goods, a policy that slowly kills our local agricultural industry while bowing once again to the neocolonial control of imperialist nations.

Multinational firms like the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) perpetuate this control by promoting destructive and unsustainable patented rice varieties. These varieties, often weaker than our traditional local strains, are forced upon farmers in the name of profit for global agribusinesses that siphon wealth back to their imperialist benefactors.

Meanwhile, the long-delayed passage of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) shows how little those in power care about the welfare of our agricultural sector and the farmers who sustain it. Palay continues to be sold for as low as ₱7.00 per kilo, when research by the Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF) shows that its fair minimum farmgate price should not fall below ₱25.00. This situation will never improve as long as the Rice Liberalization Law, which worsened rice import dependency, depressed farmgate prices, and reduced farmer income, remains in place. Its immediate repeal is imperative for the sake of our farmers, our food security, and the sustainability of the Philippine economy.

Since its founding in 1957 at the UP College of Agriculture, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐁 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐚 𝐑𝐡𝐨 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 has stood in solidarity with the struggles of Filipino farmers. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the pursuit of genuine agrarian reform, and we will not stop until all forms of violence, exploitation, and harassment against farmers' end.

As we commemorate Peasants’ Month, let us not only honor our farmers but also stand alongside them in their ongoing struggle for land, food, and justice. True freedom and national progress can only take root when every farmer owns the land they till.

𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬.