Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, Satur C. Ocampo, Bonifacio P. Ilagan and Judy Taguiwalo are familiar names. They’re not pop stars but each is definitely an idol—or lodi in colloquial Filipino. The streets are their platform, where, along with the late Marie Hilao-Enriquez, they are recognized for fighting for the people’s rights and resisting oppression and injustice.
On Dec. 6, Pagaduan-Araullo, Ocampo, Ilagan and Taguiwalo took center stage at Balay Kalinaw at the University of the Philippines Diliman for the launch of “LODI: Stories of Defiance and Resistance.” The atmosphere was joyous and the program much applauded by the family members, friends and admirers who came to listen to excerpts of the lodis’ stories and how the 150-page book published by Southern Voices was produced.
These lodis emerged unbowed by arrest, imprisonment and torture during martial law. In the back blurb of the book, former political activist and martial law survivor Adora Faye de Vera wrote: Their lives “span the length of our struggle, giving faces and voices to our history…[who] lived and loved their ideals of freedom, national democracy and social justice with the grace and humor that made life richer for those around them…[and who] inspire us to make their life stories be our own story.”
Before reading excerpts from her piece, “Carol Pagaduan-Araullo: Sana, all,” the writer-actor-director Bibeth Orteza told the audience tidbits about her good friend. The journalist Inday Espina-Varona read from Sophia Flor Perez’s “Judy Taguiwalo: Larger than Life.”
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general Mong Palatino read from Ina Alleco Silverio’s “Satur C. Ocampo: Strength of his Conviction,” and film and theater actor Pau Benitez read from Ilagan’s own work, “Kulitan at Chikahan nina Boni at Woki.”
The Moro activist Amirah Lidasan read from “In Memoriam: Marie Hilao-Enriquez.” (Enriquez, Karapatan chair emerita, died of a lingering illness on April 24, 2022.)
The afternoon was also marked by Aila Bathan’s moving rendition of “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa,” with Mikey Requilman on guitar. Both are members of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines. The legendary Chikoy Pura, lead guitarist and vocalist of the rock band The Jerks, ended the program with a rousing performance of “The Storm” and “Rage.”
“LODI: Stories of Defiance and Resistance,” is priced at ₱480 (₱300 for students). For orders, fill out the form at https://forms.gle/afRXDFxVcwbYLRUF8.
