(Message of Atty. Romeo “Meong” Cabarde, Assistant to the President for Advocacy & Legal Affairs at the Ateneo de Davao University, to the students who walked out of their classrooms on Tuesday, 23 September 2025 to express their rage against corruption. Cabarde is also the director of the Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy or APILA).
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 September) — Mga Atenistang makabayan, to all the Blue Knight leaders who are here this afternoon, I say that the day of reckoning has finally come.
Today, the plunderers will face the biggest exam of their lives.
But guess what? Bagsak na sila, daan pa lang. Sa recitation pa lang, bagsak na sila. Mas maayo pa akong may estudyante, where are my students? Makatubag sa recitation. Pero ang mga corrupt officials, they cannot even answer a simple question, kung saan napunta ang pera?
So because of that, today, we all walk out. And let’s be clear, we walk out not to drop out, but to call out.
This is not cutting class. This is standing up for class. The class of ordinary Filipinos who are robbed blindly by corruption. What we are doing today is not a class suspension. Please remember that.
This is not just a break from lessons. This is the very lesson we have today.
The street is our classroom of democracy. This is the voice of the youth saying out loud and clear, tama na ang kurakot, ibalik ang dignidad sa gobyerno, panagutin ang mandarambong!
Almost 10 years ago, halos 2 trillion pesos na ang ginastos para sa flood control projects. Yes, you heard it right, 2 trillion pesos. Hindi ko nga alam kung ilang zero nasa trillion. Pero, every time na umuulan, gabaha gihapon. Legit ang scam, guys, mga blue knights and the receipts don’t lie. If the money went where it should be, dapat safe ang mga komunidad, dry ang mga kalsada, and secure ang atong mga pamilya. But I saw kanina a placard from my student, pati sa Mintal, ginabaha na daw.
So, baha is real in Davao City. Pero, unsa nahitabo? Na ghost ang budget, na catfish ang expectation ng mga tao.
So, here’s the tea. Corruption is the real flood. It drowns or it poisons our hopes. It washes away trust and it steals our future. And what’s worse, those na dapat mag-imbestiga, sila pa mismo ang nagkasinabot. Red flag much di ba?
That is why we are here. This is our clapback.
We are going to clock all those thieves in government. Two days ago in Manila, people flooded the streets in Trillion Peso March and in Baha sa Luneta na mga rally. Karong adlawa kita sa Davao moingon pud: accountability now, jail the plunderers, and bring back integrity.
And let us not forget, medyo dugay-dugay nang panahon nga nag-walk out ang mga esudyante sa Ateneo de Davao. As I remember it, the last time we walked out was in 2012 when we walked out against extrajudicial killings in the city.
But history shows, when students walk out, society listens. And today, we’re loud, we’re clear, and we’re extra. Mga Atenista, floods may drown our streets, but corruption must not drown our spirit.
Kaya let’s flex our courage, let’s stan justice, and let’s cancel corruption. So what’s the vibe today? I think the vibe is very simple: Tama na, sobra na, mga kurakot, ikulong na yan. Ikulong na yan mga kurakot.
Let’s join together the chant, ikulong na yan, mga kurakot. (Students: Mga kurakot, ikulong na yan. Ikulong na yan, mga kurakot!)