BY DENNIS GORECHO
“MAKIBAKA. Huwag Matakot!” – a graffiti scene from the musical “Silver Lining Redux” that depicted the long history of student radical activism in the University of the Philippines (UP).
Initially staged in 2023, the musical tells the story of three high school friends Leo, Anton, and Raul, as they navigate the highs and lows of growing up in the 1970s under Martial Law as UP students.
It revolves around Leo’s idea of staging a musical during their reunion at St. Dennis High School as a tribute to their late friend Chito.
It was a nostalgic journey driven by songs that have become part of their adolescent lives when they were pursuing both academic excellence and progressive thinking.
Centered on the complexities of generational differences, the musical taps into the memories and hardships of the Baby Boomers while indulging on the creativeness of millennials and Gen Z.
The production showcased a cross-generational conversation about personal and political betrayal that haunts the older generation, the enduring quest for justice and hope, while awakening inquisitiveness in their children, linked with present issues like extrajudicial killings and the West Philippine Sea dispute. They even connected the “ATIN To” slogan with the territorial dispute and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) games.
It is peppered with elements associated with UP college life as a showcase of iconic campus scenes and traditions – from enrolment chaos, UAAP, isaw, IKOT jeep, rivalries, rallies, classroom rowdiness, endless rendezvous, and romance.
The campus was a bigger classroom where Iskolars ng Bayan learned the value of give-and-take, cooperation and mutual respect in dealing with a variety of personalities and characters.
UP is a microcosm of the larger society as students have always been one of the largest, most vibrant forces of the social movements.
UP student leader Lean Alejandro once said, “The students are in a position to serve as catalysts in social transformation.”
Back in the 1970s, many members of the UP community participated in protest actions against the reign of dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Demonstrations, protests, and marches against the Marcos administration were mostly organized by students and took place from January 26 to March 17, 1970, now known as the “First Quarter Storm.”
Violent dispersals ensued during the FQS protests and it became the watershed of the radicalization of Filipino students in the 1970s.
I was barely two months old when the nine-day uprising called “Diliman Commune” — from February 1 to 9, 1971 — became an evidence of UP’s role as the “bastion of activism.”
It was the first ever display of mass resistance from the UP Diliman community, together with transport workers, to protest the three-centavo increase in oil prices.
Life under the dictatorship was deadly, especially for those who stood against Marcos, Sr.
The play touched upon the issue of desaparecidos that revolves around Leo’s lost love, Julia.
“Desaparecidos” is the Spanish and Portuguese word for “disappeared people” or victims of forced disappearance with three elements: (a) deprivation of liberty against the will of a person; (b) involvement of government officials, at least by acquiescence; and (c) refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.
It is the same academe where I later spent a decade of my student life in the late ‘80s until late ‘90s.
If asked “Bakit ka ba naging aktibista,” I usually answer back by saying that UP is the perfect place to grow in all aspects, whether it be intellectually, politically, socially indifferent, or opposing spectrum.
The university teaches what textbooks cannot capture, the state education curriculum avoids, or the military censors, erases or prohibits.
UP continues to exist with a critical eye on social and historical issues.
The campus molded us to fight for the causes we believe in; trained us for the skills we need to communicate ideas and rally others to effect changes in society.
The musical is the first production of Rockitwell Studios owned by Galerie Joaquin’s Jack Teotico, a fellow graduate of the UP School of Economics.
“This musical is a bridge,” Teotico said in an interview. “It’s about seeing the silver lining amidst dark times, for every generation.”
The cast is led by Ricky Davao, Jamie Wilson, Raul Montesa, Jake Macapagal, Gina Respall, Don Anthony, Cheska Rodriguez, Dippy Arceo, Albert Silos, Drei Sugay, Jay Cortez, Sara Sicam, Krystal Brimner, Raflesia Bravo and Moi Gealogo.
The musical garnered critical acclaim during its original run in 2023, including five nominations at the prestigious Aliw Awards.
It runs at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at RCBC Plaza in Makati City for two weekends, from November 8 to 10 and November 15 to 17,2024.
Let us continue to celebrate activism and to live by the ideals that bound us together.
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“Peyups” is the moniker of the University of the Philippines.
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Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho is the Junior Partner of the Sapal Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786./PN
