The political being was cultivated by the prevalent political culture at that time;

the marked conservativism of the time, itself strengthened by the values of the Filipinos;

and the education system, which strongly supports the unity between citizenship and

the government, specifically provided that the latter sign up to 15,000 new employees

each year. The 1960s saw the resurgence of nationalism on campuses as students

debated the origins of society's problems. Inspired by the ideas of Claro M. Recto, the

great Filipino nationalist who had been labeled 'communist' by the Americans, the

students concentrated on the key issues of the day, including military bases

arrangements, equal rights and the Vietnam War.

According to Ledesma, C. (2015). In the mid-1960s the student of University of

the Philippines became aware of the political situation in the country, and imperialism,

feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism were recognized as the basic problems of

Philippine society. This was the period of political awakening of the Filipino people,

when widespread protests in Metro Manila against the administration of Ferdinand

Marcos were taking place. The nationalist movement has been inactive since the 1950s.

This agitation would lead to a flurry of organizing between students, community youth,

workers and farmers. Students and workers protested against the Marcos

administration and highlighted the fundamental issues of the Filipino people.

Moreover, according to Hernando, P. (2013) The article, which aims to impart

greater understanding of women’s liberation and to correct MAKIBAKA’s sectarian

nature, certainly shows a highly sectarian prescription of women’s lib and little

knowledge of not only MAKIBAKA but radical women in general. The point of the article

is that MAKIBAKA’s rejection of the women’s lib line “really means that the difference in
the sexes are to be ignored in the practical organizing of women”; that such rejection

stems from “both an unwillingness and inability to recognize the inter-relationship of the

concrete aspects of our daily lives with their over-all theory”; and that to solve this

problem MAKIBAKA should “reconsider their present hostile position to a women’s

liberation group, end the sectarian domination of the Quezon Blvd. males, and create

the Filipina’s Women’s Liberation.

Maria Lorena Barros is one of the founders and leaders of the first women’s

revolutionary movement in the country, the MAKIBAKA or Makabayang Kilusan ng

Bagong Kababaihan. Her poetry, summarizing the participation of women in the

revolutionary movement in the country, was indeed progressive. It's revolutionary text.

This text clarifies the role and relevance of armed struggle in achieving national

sovereignty and democracy. In this article, Barros' poems are separated according to

the growth of her social conscience, including her involvement in radical organizations

and events. These poems are considered progressive in the sense that they talk of the

true philosophy and theory of democratic resistance; they attack the root causes of the

oppression of the Filipino masses; They testify to the importance of military resistance

against all kinds of colonialism by the reactionary regime, and have alternate ways of

motivating people to combat racism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. The

masterpieces of Barros serve as a powerful counter to current elitist ideologies that

represent only the fascists and capitalist classes. The revolutionary text exists to reveal

the real and underlying cause of national problems and to inspire mass struggles to gain

genuine independence from semi-colonial and semi-feudal systems.

 Mercado, R. (2011) stated that one of the by-products of the political activism in

the 70's was the practically lived and grew in the headquarters. Makibaka rode on the

crest of student activism, where mainstream politics meant exposing the three evils of

imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism that plagued the country. Like other

political organizations, have actively involved in revealing the roots of the social

inequality and corruption. No marches and protests on major issues have spared, and

the organizing work among women in different schools has been annexed to creating a

large base of women who have taken the national democratic path. One leading

feminist once said that if emotional lives are shared collectively then they become a

cultural experience.  If this is true, then perhaps women should not find excuses for their

feelings but work at them towards mastery.  They are barriers to our liberation and one

must confront rather than evade them.  To strike hard at them would be to increase the

weapons of self-discovery and self-understanding that we need for tackling the larger

political issues that should be our foremost concern.

REFERENCES:

Appendix: A History of the Philippine Political Protest. Retrieved from

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest-appendix/

Ledesma, C. (2015). Women in Revolution: Maria Lorena Barros and MAKIBAKA.

Retrieved from https://ndfp.org/women-in-revolution-maria-lorena-barros-and-makibaka/

Hernando, P. (2013). Ang Panulaan Ni Maria Lorena Barros. Retrieved from

https://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/phr/article/view/4662

MAKIBAKA ON WOMEN’S LIBERATION AND INVOLVEMENT (2015). Retrieved from

http://www.signalfire.org/2015/03/24/makibaka-on-womens-liberation-and-involvement/

Mercado, R. (2011). In Memory of Lorena Barros. p. 60-62. Retrieved from

http://remembering-lorenabarros.blogspot.com/2011/04/makibaka-revisited-essays-on-

makibaka.html