Wednesday, November 05, 2003

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Warmest greetings!

We are currently accepting contributions to the book People Power 2: Through the Eyes of the Young.

It is quite ironic that while the youth is said to have provided the biggest number of warm bodies to People Power 2, the youth sector has quite lagged behind in putting out an account of this historic event. While a few publications, most notably Philippine Daily Inquirer's Youngblood and the youth-oriented website Tinig.com, have been publishing People Power 2 stories from the young, there has yet to be a definitive account of this historic phenomenon.

This book, People Power 2: Through the Eyes of the Young, is then the Filipino youth's answer to this irony. It aims to provide the definitive account of People Power 2 from the viewpoint of the Filipino youth who comprised the biggest section of the raging mass that ousted the Estrada regime. The book will cover the whole range of the youth's motivation in joining the anti-Estrada movement whether it was personal disgust against the womanizing president, a fervent resolve to oust an incompetent leader or plain curiosity on the growing mass movement which involved the youth.

The book aims at being as comprehensive a youth account of People Power 2 as possible.

It is premised on the contention that People Power 2 began not at Edsa, not with the impeachment trial, but earlier--as early as 1999, when the calls to oust Estrada first resounded.

Anyone who was between 13 and 30 years old from 1999 to 2001 and participated in the mass actions or other forms of protest against the Estrada regime may submit. We welcome articles/essays, poetry, or photos. Please submit contributions to pp2@tinig.com.

Since it is encouraged that contributions be written in a witty, fast-paced and light style, the book does not have to be completely serious or "too political." Contributions may be written in either English or Filipino.

Articles or essays may be first-hand accounts of the anti-Estrada protests, or analyses of People Power 2 and the role of the youth in it. These must be submitted in Rich Text Format, with font size 12, single-spaced, at least three but no more than seven pages.

Poetry contributions must be in Rich Text Format, with font size 12, not longer than three pages.

Contributions will be accepted until November 29.

The book is to be edited by three young Filipinos who were part of People Power 2: Raymond Palatino, former chair of the UP Student Council and current president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, aside from being a columnist of the youth-oriented online magazine Tinig.com; Ronalyn Olea, former editor of The Sentinel, Lyceum University's official student publication and current chair of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines and writer for the online news weekly Bulatlat.com; and Alexander Martin Remollino, a member of the cause-oriented journalists' network Media for Peace and the progressive young poets' group Kilometer 64, besides being a writer for Bulatlat.com, associate editor and columnist of Tinig.com, and a frequent contributor to the Makata section of the online poetry folio Dalityapi Unpoemed.