MANILA, Philippines - For the grandson and son-in-law of former president Ferdinand Marcos’ chief propagandist, newspaperman Primitivo “Tibo” Mijares, “fake news” and “alternative facts” about what happened during martial law are dangerous and alarming.
Mijares himself was the source of false information disseminated to the public through government-controlled media at the time, and Marcos’ declaration of martial law in 1972 was generally accepted by the public, not knowing the consequences of such declaration.
But enlightenment came upon Mijares in 1975 when he learned that the late dictator did not intend to use martial law to quell communist insurgency and violence but to perpetuate himself, along with his family, in power.
Mijares went to the United States in 1975 on an official mission without his family knowing he never had any intention to return. He then testified before the US Congress on the abuses of martial law.
Mijares’ youngest grandson, Joseph Christopher “JC” Mijares Gurango, is taking on the fight of his grandfather for freedom and democracy, especially now that historical revisionism, especially through social media, seems to be succeeding in changing the people’s knowledge and perspective of what happened in the past.
The details about his grandfather’s work during the Marcos regime are recounted in the book “Conjugal Dictatorship,” which JC has now republished to educate Filipinos, particularly the young, about martial law.
The book, with 200 additional pages contributed by millennials, will be launched tomorrow at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.
“You could read this book and think my grandfather was a bad person. I don’t think he’s a bad person but if you do, that makes sense (because of what he did for the Marcoses),” the 19-year-old JC told The STAR in an interview with his father Joey and Kevin Ansel Dy, who is helping in the advocacy to thwart historical revisionism.
A former journalist who became the “media czar” of Marcos, Mijares disappeared a year after his book was published in 1976. The book was reprinted in 1986 after the EDSA people power revolution that toppled the Marcos regime.
According to Joey, Mijares was last seen in January 1977 in Guam and was never heard from again. A few months after that or in May of 1977, his youngest son Luis or “Boyet” was kidnapped, tortured and found dead weeks later. Luis was only 16 when he was killed.
Mijares’ wife is Priscilla, a judge, and JC is the son of one of their daughters, Pilita, a medical doctor.
To promote the truth about history, JC said the first step was to have the book out, as it contains the accounts of a “real insider, (Primitivo) being closer to Marcos” than almost anybody else.
For instance, JC noted the “press release” about the infamous story of then defense secretary Juan Ponce Enrile getting ambushed to justify martial law “was written two days before it happened” – a detail that people would find in the book.
Let history stay as it is
What happened to Mijares and his youngest son was so traumatic for the family that they decided not to talk about it anymore and burden the children, Joey said.
But the resurgence of the Marcoses in the political scene and the surprise burial of the late dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last November prompted the family to break their silence.
JC came across stacks of his grandfather’s book about two years ago and just “connected the dots” after reading it because his mother told him about the incident involving his uncle Luis when he was about 13 or 14 years old.
“The idea of taking on the fight is really one of the main reasons why we’re republishing this book. It’s because maybe people are saying that you should move on, ignoring the fact that that part of history is actually being changed…They’re trying to make that part of history remembered in the wrong way,” JC said.
“So when it comes to people getting tired, and it’s more than just people getting tired, it’s more people are also dying, we’re running out of people who can actually attest to it, we’re running of people who can tell the story. So it will be up to people like me who are still going to be around... we have to tell the story,” JC added.
Aside from history starting to be changed, JC said a lot of other things might happen.
“The Marcoses might come back to Malacañang so when you say something like move on, my only response is we’ll move on once they stop trying to change history,” JC said.
He said Marcos’ son, former senator Ferdinand Jr., even had the “balls” to run for vice president and almost won, which would show they were close to getting back into power.
Idea of justice
JC and his father said the whole effort of republishing the book was not about anger or revenge but just to ensure that the things that happened before would not happen again.
They no longer talk about the need to hold the Marcoses liable for the disappearance of Mijares and the death of his son Luis or whoever the masterminds were, but to make them accountable to the nation, especially with regard to the public money they stole.
“I think the important take away would be that this is not just a problem of the past,” JC said, pointing out along with his father that the Marcoses should admit their sins and give back to the people whatever they took while they were in power.
They also abhor the culture of impunity that prevails, such that some of those in government are no longer afraid to commit irregularities, not to mention human rights abuses.
And aside from the vast resources obviously being used to paint a different picture of the martial law regime, JC conceded they would have to fight indifference and lack of knowledge among the people.
“I think there will be people who would not be convinced no matter what you do,” JC said, but stressed he would like to reach those “on the fence” who “really don’t seem to care about this.”
“I want to show that this is something worth caring about and I want to show them that this is relevant, this is still something we should worry about right now,” JC said.
“Spark”
Aside from having the book republished, JC said they were planning to go to schools and disseminate the book online through their website, www.conjugaldictatorship.com complete with photographs and videos.
His father said the key is also to have martial law become part of the curriculum in schools.
“Once it is taught, that’s half the battle won already,” Joey said, noting that knowledge and education are the best weapons against the spread of wrong information about the past.
Dy said JC could be the “spark” or the beginning of a movement that would push their advocacy for the long haul. Dy said the reception of the public for JC was encouraging, as people would come up to him to discuss their own take about martial law.
JC, who grew up in Manila and was home-schooled after attending an international school, described himself as a typical millennial. He said his mother was very protective of him because of what happened to his uncle Luis.
He insists there was nothing special about him to be chosen to do the talking for the family, only that some were getting tired and old as well.
“My parents are very afraid for me. And I am of course also very afraid…But that’s not a reason not to do it. Just because you’re afraid does not mean you should just let whoever do whatever they want. It’s important to do this and it’s important to not let them get away with this,” JC said, noting the power and the resources that the Marcoses have to this day.
But if there is any consolation, Joey said they could at least talk freely now about what happened – something they could never do when he was JC’s age.
“It’s already a celebration of what had been accomplished since then. If we don’t talk about these things, that actually now opens a possibility that what happened then, would happen again,” Joey said.
“People don’t seem to realize today, especially the young people, just how oppressive and how bad things were,” Joey emphasized, adding people tend to believe online articles and other social media posts that those were the “golden years” of the Philippines.
“Imagine hearing that (when our) generation…know how life was at the time,” Joey said, stressing that “if you start believing that and many people are believing that, it makes it more possible, it makes it more acceptable, when somebody comes along and says we need to declare martial law again for whatever reason.”
Reality check
Joey stressed fake news or alternative facts could alter people’s perspective of things and how they would respond to developments.
But he said they would know for a fact that those with the Marcoses at the time they were in power lived a life that was beyond normal.
For example, Joey said his father-in-law’s family had a printing press in San Juan, lived in a privileged community in Quezon City and had several cars, which was unusual for a middle class family.
Things changed when Mijares joined the Marcos government from being a part of the Baguio Midland Courier and the Manila Chronicle then owned by the Lopezes.
Primitivo wrote a column called “PM Views” that was widely known to contain the thoughts of the former dictator being conveyed through him, Joey shared.
“He was the original whistle-blower,” Joey said – and paid the price for it.
Joey said Primitivo’s family got so preoccupied with the case of Luis that they only realized his father-in-law was probably killed as well, because 1986 came and still, up to this day, not even a shadow of him has been seen. Mijares has been legally declared dead.
“That episode (with Luis, including the court case and media coverage) lasted two years,” Joey said.