From Bonifacio to Us: The Spirit of Resistance Continues

NOVEMBER 30, 2025

Today, as we mark Bonifacio Day, we remember the spark that began with ordinary Filipinos who refused to be silent… and we call on that same spark within us now.

Because today, we face a different kind of struggle — one that crosses oceans, borders, and generations.

Back home, we see corruption eating away at the very foundations of our society. We watch leaders who promise service but deliver suffering. We see disasters — earthquakes, typhoons, floods — made worse not just by nature, but by the failure of those who should protect our people. We see voices silenced, truth distorted, and accountability treated as an inconvenience instead of a responsibility.

And yet… even here, far from the streets of Manila or the coasts of Leyte or the hills of Mindanao… we feel the shadows of that same corruption.

We see it when our workers are exploited.
When our communities are divided.
When our stories are dismissed.
When those in power assume that we —migrants, workers, children of immigrants—should simply be grateful and stay quiet.

But we refuse that.
We refuse silence.
We refuse to inherit corruption as if it were part of our identity.
We know better.
Our history taught us better.

Because wherever Filipinos go — whether we’re in Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, or anywhere in the world — we carry a legacy of resistance. A legacy of courage. A legacy of people who looked power in the eye and said: Not us. Not anymore.

And today, we stand in that same tradition.

We speak because our communities deserve truth.
We organize because our families deserve dignity.
We resist because our people — here and back home — deserve leaders who serve, not leaders who steal.

We understand that corruption is not just a political issue.
It is a moral one.
It is a question of who we are… and who we choose to be.

And we choose to be the generation that says: Enough.

We choose to be the generation that remembers its roots and refuses to be uprooted from its principles.
We choose to be the community that shows the world that Filipinos, wherever we may be, still know how to fight for what is right.

Because nothing worth having is ever given freely.
Freedom is fought for.
Dignity is defended.
Justice is demanded.

We the people — tayo ang lakas.
We the people — tayo ang kapangyarihan.
We the people — here and back home — will not be silenced.

This is our voice.
This is our stand.
And this is our promise: that the spirit we honour today will not remain in the past… it will live in us, now and always.