Never again indeed
Martial law indeed robbed Filipinos of their dignity and stripped them off of their identity. Martial Law raped the country and placed a thief into power for 22 years. The scars that Martial Law inflicted on the hearts of the Filipino people have neither been forgiven nor will it be forgotten. But on Nov. 18, the unannounced hero’s burial of the late dictator and former President Ferdinand Marcos invalidated what the Filipino people fought for during the 1986 People Power Revolution in EDSA, in which thousands marched in peaceful protest to oust Marcos from power. Democracy, defined in 1986, was crippled once more.
What happened on Nov. 18 left the nation in dismay and utter anger.
The Philippine National Police did not confirm that the burial will push through not until at 10 am on the same day of the burial, which perhaps aimed to prevent anti-Marcos groups from staging protests, making it seem as if the Filipino people were manipulated and cheated.
But a few hours later after Marcos was laid to rest “finally” after 27 years, students from various universities and institutions nationwide staged protests and later converged at the EDSA People Power Monument to chant the words “Marcos diktador, hindi bayani. Marcos Hitler Diktador Tuta. Never again, never again, never again to Martial Law.” Students from UP, Ateneo, UST, La Salle, PUP, Miriam, St. Scholastica and others joined the protest.
On Nov. 25 during the National Day of Unity and Rage, thousands marched to Luneta to condemn the hero’s burial for Marcos.
The protesters even sent a message to President Duterte saying “Digong, Digong, hoy, hoy! Hindi bayani si Makoy!”
I personally joined the protest at Espana Gate 2 held up photos of Martial Law victims. I was one with the protesters trying to convince passersby to join the protest and the drivers to honk their cars and start a noise barrage. And never have I ever felt so enraged at people screaming at us telling us “Duterte pa rin!” It was as if what we were doing meant nothing.
Marcos, whose dictatorship led to the wide spread killings, torment and violation of human rights, is not a hero and therefore should not be honored as a hero.
On November 8, the nation was deeply saddened when the Supreme Court reached a 9-5 decision to allow the hero’s burial for Marcos. The Supreme Court appeared to have forgotten what the Marcos regime did to the Philippines. What the Supreme Court did supported historical revisionism, honoring a plunderer, a murderer and a dictator.
President Duterte should feel ashamed of his decision. While there is no law barring Marcos to be buried at the LNMB, Duterte should have at least thought about the lives of thousands of Filipinos who suffered under Martial Law. He should have thought about the money of the Filipino people, which went straight into the pockets of the Marcoses because the last one who should be apathetic should be the President.
I am only 18 years old and I was not alive during Martial Law. But that does not mean I should be apathetic and apolitical. The horrors of Martial Law are neither myths nor folk tales. Data from Amnesty International showed that 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured and 3,240 were killed under the Marcos dictatorship, which lasted from 1971 to 1986.
In fact, victims who are still alive today can still feel the torment they have been through. It is saddening that there are close-minded people who actually think simply “moving on” could heal the scars of the past. How can the Filipino people move on when the aftermath of Martial Law is still haunting the nation, the Filipino people still paying the Marcoses’ debts. And sadly the Marcoses are still elected into power by the same people they manipulated.
