SANLAKAS: Happy Silver Anniversary, SANLAKAS!

A Sanlakas Poem

Come forth all you who are tired,

all you who have grown weary.

You who suffer by the heavy hand

of exploitation and stand aghast

at the avarice of the few.

You who know that every voice

that has been allowed to speak,

a thousand others have been

muted by want and constraint.

You who have been numbed

by the growling of your stomach

as you fed the latest

statistics on growth.

You who have been shamed

and angered by the fate

of our people in a world

that would not acknowledged

our dignity.

You who feel the emptiness

of an existence drawn only

to the self and to the profit

while the world and its

life pass by you.

Come forth, Filipinos,

and raise the call!

For these times

are not for those

who will remain weak

but rather for those

who would be strong;

not for those

who would hide in fear;

but for those

who show themselves resolute;

not for the hopeless,

but for those

who will continue to dream.

Our people's hope

Our people's resolve

Our people's strength

Sanlakas

(This poem was published at the front page of Maypagasa magazine, the official publication of Sanlakas, Vol. 2, No. 1, October-December 1999)