Nagasaki, August 9, 2026 — 81 Years After the Atomic Bombing
Speech by Cora Fabros, IPB Co-President
Friends, ohayo guzaimas!
81 years after the atomic bomb was dropped on this city.
We remember. We grieve.
We carry the memory of those who died— and the voices of those who survived.
The Hibakusha have told us again and again: “Never again.”
Those are not simply words from the past. They are a warning to our present.
And they are a responsibility to our future.
I come here today from the Philippines peace and justice movement and the International Peace Bureau.
I come from a country that knows what it means to live under the shadow of military power.
I come from a people who resisted foreign military bases.
I come from a movement that opposed the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant because we knew that nuclear technology is not simply about electricity or weapons. It is about what kind of future we choose for our people. And I come here remembering our own struggles under dictatorship—
when people risked their lives for freedom, democracy and peace.
Those struggles taught me something very simple: Peace does not come by itself.
Peace must be defended. Must be built. Must be chosen.
That is why today, standing here in Nagasaki, I want to make an appeal—
an appeal not only to governments, not only to political leaders, but to every one of us.
Let us build an OCEAN OF PEACE.
An ocean so vast that no bomb can cross it.
An ocean so deep that hatred cannot reach its bottom.
An ocean whose waves carry food, medicine, education, dignity— and freedom
instead of missiles, warships and nuclear weapons.
An ocean where the lives of children are valued more than military power.
An ocean where security does not mean preparing to destroy another country—
but making sure that every human being has enough to eat,
a home to live in,
clean water to drink,
a school to attend,
a planet to inherit,
and the freedom to live without fear.
Let us build an Ocean of Peace.
But an ocean is not made by one drop.
It is made by millions of drops coming together.
And we are those drops.
One person.
One community.
One movement.
One country.
One people reaching out to another.
Here in Asia and the Pacific, we know this very well.
Women everywhere who have stood up against militarization, occupation, nuclear weapons and war, know this very well.
Our histories and languages may be different.
Our countries may be separated by thousands of miles of ocean.
But our struggles are connected.
Our struggles, Our future, Our humanity is one.
And that is why Nagasaki and Hiroshima belong to all of us.
The memory of the Hibakusha belongs to all of us.
The memory of the Hibakusha and their suffering belongs to our human conscience. And their courage belongs to our future.
Today, as we look at the world around us, we cannot remain silent.
We see Wars. Occupation. Children buried beneath the rubble.
We see military budgets growing while people struggle to afford food, housing, health care and education.
We see nuclear weapons being modernized.
We see governments continue to make us believe in the myth that security requires more weapons. More bases. More nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki tells us that they can only lead to ashes. to suffering beyond imagination. Leaving wounds that continue across generations.
So today, from Nagasaki— from this city that carries one of humanity’s deepest wounds—
we say:
NO to nuclear weapons!
NO to war!
NO to injustice!
NO to imperialist wars of aggression!
And let us say something even more powerful and profound:
YES to life! Yes to peace. Yes to human dignity.
Yes to justice. To freedom. To solidarity.
Yes to a world where no mother has to bury her child because of war.
Yes to a world where nations resolve their differences without destroying human lives.
LET US CHOOSE LIFE!
My friends, We cannot leave the work of peace to the next generation only.
We are the collective generation that must do it.
We must dream— but we must also stand. We must speak— but we must also organize.
We must remember— but we must also act.
And we can only do this if we stand together.
Across borders. Across oceans. Across generations.
Not only today. But for all the days of our lives.
Let us carry the voices of the Hibakusha with us.
Let us build an Ocean of Peace.
An ocean made from our courage! our solidarity! from our resistance!
An ocean made from our love for humanity.
And when millions of us become those drops—
when we join together— no weapon can silence us.
No border can divide us. No government can make us forget.
Because the future belongs not to the bomb-makers, not to the war-mongers,
not to those who profit from destruction!
The future belongs to the people who choose life!
So from Nagasaki, let our message travel across Japan— across Asia and the Pacific—
across every continent— across every ocean!
LET US BUILD AN OCEAN OF PEACE!
LET US CHOOSE LIFE— THAT WE MAY ALL LIVE THE LIFE THAT WE DESERVE!
GAMBATTE KUDASAI!!!
