UP Diliman community commemorates 50 years since the First Quarter Storm (FQS) through various activities under its Arts and Culture Festival with the theme “Makita Kang Sakdal Laya”.

The series of activities began with “Konsyerto ng Bayan sa ika-50 Taon”, a free public concert held at the Palma Hall AS Steps last February 7.

The concert featured an orchestra composed of the UP Symphony Orchestra, UP Cherubim and Seraphim, UP Singing Ambassadors, UP Staff Chorale, and AUIT Vocal Chamber Ensemble.

It also featured performances from cultural artists such as Alay Sining and the UP Repertory Company, among others.

On the same event, “The Gathering Storm,” an art installation by Toym Imao, was first revealed. Imao arranged together chairs, tables, and wooden poles to look like an ominous hovering cloud right above the AS Steps, wherein rallies were held in the 1970s.

According to Imao, the chairs represent the barricades students used against the entry of police during the Diliman Commune.

“This form of activities and programs […] would somehow place that era into the current [times] and basically leaving a digital footprint that the generation right now can easily mine and probably take inspiration from,” Imao said.

“Paraan ang FQS para alalahanin natin, tuwing nawawalan tayo ng hope sa pagkilos, kung para saan ba at kung bakit tayo kumikilos in the first place which is ‘yun nga, ang palayain ang pilipinas sa iba’t ibang forms of oppression na hanggang ngayon, di pa rin natutuldukan.” said Clarice Canonizado, a second year BA Sociology student in UP Diliman.

The First Quarter Storm was a period of civil unrest during the first three months of 1970, hence the name. It contributed to the declaration of Martial Law two years later.

During the FQS, college students, including those from UP Diliman, held several protests against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The demonstrations included calls against Marcos’ anti-people policies as well as US imperialism.

“Importanteng mahugot natin ang mga aral noong 1970 at makita natin ang kasalukuyan at kung papano natin haharapin ang mga hamon dito sa panahon ng namumuong pasismo at tiraniya,” said Bonifacio Ilagan, a staunch Martial Law activist.

Several activities from all around the UP Diliman campus are still lined up to commemorate the FQS. These activities include the 10th Asian Regional Conference of the International Labor and Employment Relations Association called Workers Voice and Representation and Labor Activism in The First Quarter Storm of 1970” on February 24-25, a public forum entitled Ang Kondisyon ng Manggagawang Pilipino on March 28, and showing of the Plaridel Project on April 24-26. The festivities will run until April 2020.