It’s time for Ladlad

In my years voting for a partylist, it’s only been Bayan Muna and ACT Teachers Par­tylist for me. It goes without saying that I would vote for Kabataan Partylist and Gabriela in a heartbeat too, as I would Piston, and none of it has to do with whatever organized activist past I have, as it is a matter of this: I trust these people.

I trust that they will not be corrupted by the system within the halls of Congress. I trust that they will not sell out. Which is to say that they will stick to their guns about nationalism and change, the kind that is premised on justice, for each of the sectors they represent. I trust that alliances are treated objectively, and that as allies they do not become cohorts. I trust that bills will be filed, and laws will be passed, ones that have long been set aside because of a lack of sectoral representation in Congress, as well as the refusal of the powerful and well-entrenched to treat the margi­nalized and underrepresented with respect and afford these sectors justice.