Immensely grateful to Amnesty International Philippines (AIPh) for the invitation to speak at their 2025 Members’ General Assembly. Maraming salamat kina Acting Director Jeselle Montilla Papa at Dr. Aurora Parong sa mainit ninyong pagtanggap at sa pagkakataong makasama ang mga kapwa nating tumitindig para sa karapatan at pananagutan.

The recent rallies against the flood control scandal reminded us that words like tibak and aktibista shift meaning with the times. When times are easy, activism is mocked as noisy and disruptive. But when crisis hits—when floods rise, when prices soar, when truth itself is under attack—suddenly activists become prophets. Their courage becomes contagious, and their warnings turn into wisdom.

We must remember: the struggle for justice is not meant to be carried by one generation alone. It is a relay — a long and unfinished relay — where each of us carries the torch as far as we can, then passes it on.

Sa ganitong mga panahon natin nakikita kung gaano kahalaga ang tumindig kahit pagod na. You grow tired because you’ve cared enough to stay. Yet we continue to rise again because the struggle for justice was never a sprint. It is a long pilgrimage toward dignity. And in that journey, pagod is part of grace.

Maraming salamat, Amnesty International Philippines, sa patuloy na pagtataguyod at pagtatanggol sa karapatang pantao at sa pagpapaalala na hindi tayo nag-iisa.

Tuloy ang laban at pagtindig para sa karapatan at pananagutan!