Aurora Amore: Echoes of EDSA in LoveBOx 2024

Editor's Note: This speech was initially delivered at the close of "LoveBOx 2024: Aurora Amore" last February 23, 2024. LoveBOx 2024 was organized by the Ateneo Biological Organization (Ateneo BOx).

What a wonderful evening it is, seeing everyone here, clad in colors of every sort, free to express their advocacies in love.

I’m Andie, the President of Ateneo BOx, and I would like to take this time here to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for all your support in this year’s LoveBOx. This event would not have been possible without everyone here right now.

What started as a humble fundraiser is now a full-fledged, external concert for the benefit of dolphin and whale conservation. But in BOx, we celebrate all life—not just our plant and animal friends. While this concert might very well be for our blubber-filled companions, remember that love is not possible without freedom, and that freedom was earned and fought for by thousands of voices who yearned to escape the chains of tyranny. And we continue to exercise the spirit of People Power by standing for the preservation of the life that surrounds us.

Let us take a short minute of silence to recognize the EDSA revolution—a landmark reminder of our shared responsibility to uphold the dignity, not just of all peoples, but of life in all its forms.

[MINUTE OR SO OF SILENCE]

Standing here with more than a thousand people, hearts connected, and directed for our love for music and for the environment, shakes my core. Just like then, and like many of our titas and titos, lolas and lolos in 1986, the EDSA Revolution cemented the need for radical love and passion. We must not lose the spirit of connectedness that they cultivated so long ago, through their blood, sweat, and tears, through their love.

In fact, 'sabi nga ng Theology Prof ko,' 'To love is to make decisions, you need to see options and possibilities—you need to be free.' So para magmahal, kailangan mo munang maging malaya—without freedom, there is no love.

So let us treasure our freedoms, and continue to fight for them, because without it, we cannot be empowered to love.

We all went here to celebrate music and our shared love in all forms. I hope that after this event, we remember that love makes the impossible possible and is the means through which we actualize ourselves and our advocacies.

With that, once again, thank you very much for supporting LoveBOx 2024: Aurora Amore.

About Ateneo BOx
Between interschool competitions, field trips, and fundraisers for animals, the Ateneo Biological Organization (BOx) is full of students that are Biology enthusiasts at heart! Originally founded in 2004 for Biology majors, it has since evolved to become Ateneo's premier advocate for issues concerning Biology awareness, wildlife conservation, and animal rights. Through events like the Philippine Biology Olympiad, Marine Rehabilitation, and Bring Your Own Dog Day, BOx members are characterized by an earnest passion to uphold the organization's core advocacies of animal welfare, bio-education, and biodiversity. Open to all students in the Loyola Schools, BOx is an organization built on the appreciation of all life.