United Federation Of Fil-Am Educators - Washington DC

02/15/2025

Thank you Daddy for the love ❤️. Happy Valentine’s Day😘

11/24/2023

10/14/2023

01/01/2023

Happy New Year UNIFFIED Family and to all teachers around the World!

10/04/2022

The classes started back in March.

09/21/2022

In the next 11 days, the Ateneo Martial Law Museum remembers Atenean Activists martyred under the Marcos dictatorship.

Abraham "Ditto" Pascual Sarmiento Jr (1950 – 1977)

Abraham "Ditto" Pascual Sarmiento Jr. is hailed as a fighter for freedom of expression and free thinking. Born to a former Associate Justice and a well-to-do academic topnotcher, it was no surprise that he racked up awards for academic excellence early on during his elementary and high school days in the Ateneo. He was even known at some point as "one of the smartest in school" and as a "walking encyclopedia.” His intellectual pursuits eventually led him to show an interest in writing for the Philippine Collegian in his freshman year of college at the University of the Philippines. This coincided with the First Quarter Storm of 1970, opening Ditto up to politicization through writing and, as suspected by his father, through meeting up with activists in far-flung areas. This was shown in Ditto's works as he criticized Martial Law and urged the restoration of democracy.

His calls were amplified when he became the Collegian's editor-in-chief. He encouraged discourse between varying points of view and urged readers to become critical of Martial Law and of their current social realities. Under his direction, the Collegian stood as a beacon of truth and expression and was regarded as an official newspaper—not just as a college publication—by many. However, it all came to a head when he criticized Marcos' New Society in his last editorial piece, entitled "Where Do We Go From Here?". He was detained after he read the piece in public and was moved to Camp Crame's criminal stockade under charges of "rumor mongering" and "printing and circulating leaflets and propaganda." Unfortunately, his health deteriorated rapidly while he was in prison, and he died due to medical complications only shortly after he was released. The University of the Philippines gave its due honor to Ditto's memory by granting him his undergraduate degree posthumously.

This story was immortalized by Dr. Cristina Montiel in her book “Living and Dying: In Memory of 11 Ateneo de Manila Martial Law Activists.”

May the 11 activists continue to inspire us for decades to come.

These materials were made by the Ateneo Martial Law Museum's Junior Fellows. The AMLM-JF is the official volunteer student arm of the AMLM.

09/21/2022

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, PhilSTAR L!fe is publishing a series of essays written by personalities who experienced one of the darkest periods in Philippine history.

09/21/2022