KULÊ@100
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In 1969, while still a working student at the then Philippine College of Commerce, dela Fuente decided to join the radical group Kabataang Makabayan. The students petitioned for an increase in the funding of state universities and colleges, which was granted. The campus would later be closed during Martial Law, and dela Fuente would only obtain his degree in business education in 1975, two years after his school reopened.
PRO F I L E S
@phkule
Yuji Santos
A Lifelong Call for Justice »
Danilo dela Fuente’s memories of the struggle for justice and the pain he felt during Martial Law remain vivid. These memories motivate him to continue fighting for democracy.
At the beginning of our call, Danilo dela Fuente greeted me cheerfully as it took seconds for the signal to settle. He spoke as if he were talking to a friend, laughing lightheartedly over some of the stories he shared. There was a grim undertone to his cheerfulness as he narrated his brutal experience during Martial Law. While listening, I admired how, with a steady voice, he managed to tell his story despite the lingering trauma. After all, remaining silent was to him nonnegotiable in any talk of justice. With Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s ascent to the presidency and his family’s restoration in order, the freedom and rights that the Filipino people fought for during Martial Law are at risk of being sidelined. However, dela Fuente remains steadfast in exercising his right to fight for the truth and justice for fellow
Martial Law victims, and defending democracy through the parliament of the streets. Rising to the Occasion Dela Fuente was born on January 3, 1949, in Tondo, Manila. He was 10 when he witnessed his father, a unionist, making placards for protests, inspiring him to later be an activist himself. He had the impression that activism was in his blood. “Kasi yung tatay ko, nine years siya sa pagiging presidente ng unyon sa pabrika. Nakikita ko yun, gawa siya nang gawa,” he shared. “Sipag ng tatay ko!” Those realizations formed the principle by which he chooses to live even now at the age of 73. “Hindi pala pu-pwedeng ibigay kaagad yung kahilingan niyo nang hindi pinaghihirapan,” he said of the tenacity that activism warrants.
As an employee in Makati, he also became a member of the Friendship Association of Makati Employees, citing the passion for membership in organizations he inherited from his father as his reason for joining. By 1970, he had become more involved in political rallies and demonstrations, prompting him to take absences from work. He is proud of being among the 50,000 activists who stormed the Old Legislative Building
#NeverAgain #NeverForget
