Mendiola Narratives: Ruben Torres

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Ruben Torres

Ruben Torres was an activist during the Marcos dictatorship. After Martial Law, he became a member of Corazon Aquino's cabinet, serving as undersecretary, then secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment. Under the administration of Fidel Ramos, he served as executive secretary. Later on, he was elected to Congress as representative of the second district of Zambales.

Interviewer: Joel F. Ariate Jr.
Videographer: Alleson D. Villota
Date of Interview: July 15, 2008
Place: Manila

Please click this link for the interview transcript.

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This blog is one of the sites that makes available to the public the collection of interviews conducted by the researchers of the UP Third World Studies Center, led by Joel F. Ariate Jr., for the "Mendiola Narratives" research project (please click here for the other site). The research was funded by the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development of the International Institute of Social History. In this research, a site biography and a collection of narratives of social movement actors serve as the infrastructure of social memory. The research surfaces and records in audiovisual format the personal narratives of those who were once witnesses and participants to protest actions in Mendiola. Mendiola is the name of the main street that leads directly to the Malacañang Palace, the seat of the Philippine presidency. Since the 1950s, Mendiola has been the foremost site of physical confrontation between social movement actors waging protests and the state. Generations of social movement actors have braved bullets and barricades in the street of Mendiola just to be able to put forward their grievances within shouting distance of the Philippine president. Mendiola then is a palimpsest on which many stories and deeds of activism, of the Filipinos untiring quest for justice, have been inscribed—some of which in blood. It is the task of the research, and of this site, to encourage social movement actors to articulate their stories of Mendiola. This research makes visible their refusal to forget the injustices suffered by the Filipinos at the hand of their own government and the resolute stance that the Filipinos have taken to speak truth to power.

Mendiola Narratives

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Ruben Torres

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