QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 30 November) — The First Sunday of Advent begins with a summons. In the Gospel, Jesus urges his followers to stay awake and be ready, for no one knows the hour when the Lord will come. Advent is not passive waiting but active and hopeful vigilance. Its readings call us to begin again with moral clarity and courage. To welcome the Lord, we must confront what is broken in the world and within ourselves.
These Advent themes resonate deeply with the life and writings of Andrés Bonifacio. His birth anniversary, which comes as November turns to December, reminds us that for him the call to awaken was urgent and uncompromising. In his poems and manifestos, he spoke directly to the conscience of the oppressed. He believed that a good day, isang mabuting araw, could dawn only when Filipinos rose from fear, apathy, and the acceptance of corruption as inevitable. In Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, he teaches that love of country requires endurance, sacrifice, and the refusal to tolerate injustice.
Advent’s spiritual wakefulness and Bonifacio’s revolutionary vigilance meet in their shared belief that goodness requires readiness. The Gospel calls people to stay alert. Bonifacio called Filipinos to rise. Both insist that true liberation, whether spiritual or political, arrives only when ordinary people choose courage over resignation.
EDSA and Luneta
This message feels especially urgent today. The Trillion Peso March in EDSA and the Baha sa Luneta were equally well attended. I went first to Luneta as I wanted to be with young people, including my activist son who always inspires me in his commitment to workers. But I did catch the tail-end of the EDSA event and saw the rainbow after the rain. And contrary to what I expected, in both places speakers and signs called for accountability from both Duterte and Marcos and across the political spectrum.
In both places, students, workers, families, professionals, and faith communities marched side by side demanding honesty and accountability in public life. People carried signs that rejected the normalization of corruption and called for truth.
The TPM and Baha sa Luneta reveals a society that refuses to be numbed by scandal fatigue or silenced by intimidation. It affirms that Filipinos still know how to stand together for the common good.
Rallies in the provinces
What is even more striking is the unity shown in the provinces. In cities such as Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Malaybalay, Baguio, Bacolod, Lucena, Naga, Davao, and Iloilo, people gathered across social and political lines to protest corruption and insist that public office is a public trust. Neighbors who may differ on many issues stand beside each other because the issue before them is moral rather than partisan.
Many now hope that Metro Manila will be able to mirror this provincial unity. The regions demonstrate that solidarity is possible and that a shared desire for clean government can overcome old divisions. If the capital can reflect the coherence shown in the provinces, the entire country may find the strength to push for lasting reforms.
We must be united because the common enemy, who are the political dynasties and oligarchs of this country and their collaborators in the bureaucracy, is formidable.
The promise of Advent
Seen through the lens of Advent, these protests are not only political events but moral awakenings. They reflect the same energy that stirred Bonifacio and the Katipunan, the belief that ordinary people have both the right and responsibility to confront corruption and build a better future. They mirror Isaiah’s vision of a people walking toward the light. They echo the Gospel’s invitation to stay awake, speak truth, and act with courage.
A good day in Advent is not defined by comfort or ease. It is the day when people refuse to sleepwalk through injustice. It is the day when hope becomes action and truth is spoken clearly. Those who stood in EDSA and Luneta, as well as those who filled provincial plazas, embody the spiritual posture of Advent watchers. Their eyes are open, their hearts are engaged, and they stand ready for the possibility of a just future.
Bonifacio once wrote that the light of freedom shines when each Filipino kindles it within. Advent teaches something similar. Renewal begins in the heart. It is found in decisions to resist apathy, to practice honesty, to help the vulnerable, and to insist on the common good.
A good day is not something we simply wait for. It is something we help create. It arrives when faith guides moral courage, when citizens choose truth over convenience, and when unity becomes stronger than corruption. It arrives when the spirit of Advent and the example of Bonifacio meet in the public square, in voices that refuse to normalize wrongdoing, and in communities determined to live in the light.
As Advent begins and the nation honors Bonifacio’s unfinished revolution, we are invited not only to remember but to act. A good day is dawning, but it depends on whether we too will stay awake and whether we will finally stand together as one people.
[MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Dean Antonio Gabriel La Viña is Associate Director of Manila Observatory where he heads the Klima Center. He is also a professor of law, philosophy, politics and governance in several universities. He has been a human rights lawyer for 35 years and a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group. He is currently the managing partner of La Viña Zarate and Associates, a development and social change progressive law firm that provides legal assistance to the youth student sector, Lumad and other Indigenous Peoples, desaparecidos and their families, political detainees, communities affected by climate and environmental justice, etc.
Dean Tony is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and Chair of the Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy. He is founding president of the Movement Against Disinformation and the founding chairs of the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility and the Mindanao Center for Scholarships, Sports, and Spirituality (MCS³)]
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