11/06/2025
𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡| 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗭. 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿
Today, as the nation raises its flags and sings of freedom hard-won, we must ask: What does it mean to be truly free? Independence is not only the absence of foreign rulers but the presence of moral courage. It is the power of a people to govern themselves, unshackled by fear, unseduced by favor.
In light of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, this year’s commemoration of Independence Day carries added weight. The process, though complex and politically charged, is a reflection of our constitutional right to demand transparency from those who hold power. That we can initiate such proceedings, even if it’s against a sitting vice president, proves one thing: the Republic is ours to hold accountable, and we, the citizens, have the freedom to question, openly, lawfully, and without hesitation.
The test of democracy is not merely in drafting the laws, it’s in upholding them. It’s in ensuring that neither fear of retaliation nor favor from the powerful distorts the path of justice. If independence means anything today, it must mean this: That no official is above scrutiny, and no citizen is beneath the right to question.
We cannot say we are free if our institutions shrink in the face of confrontation. We cannot say we are self-governing if loyalty to personalities overrides loyalty to truth. Let the proceedings unfold as they must, not as political theater, but as proof that the people can still demand answers, and the system can still deliver them.
This Independence Day, we do more than remember a revolution. We recommit to one. A quiet, daily revolution of citizens who insist that this Republic—our Republic—remains free. Not just free in name, but in conscience. Free from fear. Free from favor. And above all, free to govern itself.
Because in a truly independent nation, the freedom to question is not a threat, it is the foundation.
