Remember 9-21-72

September 21, 1972 should live on in the hearts and minds of all Filipinos. We Filipinos should always remember, should never forget martial law in the Philippines. This date should never be forgotten so that martial law is never repeated or allowed ever again in this country.

However Ferdinand E. Marcos and his cronies tried and still try to rationalize the imposition of martial law, history is clear about the megalomaniac ambition of a dictator who wanted to stay/overstay in power. Or make that conjugal dictators. Imagine a country led by a couple hungry for power, wealth and status, for themselves.

While the ruled wallowed in continuing poverty, the dictators stole billions of public funds. The critics who stood in their way did not have a chance as imprisonment, torture, disappearance, murder, death were common during the dictatorial regime. Curfew was imposed, many freedoms suppressed.

History, however, is clear. No dictatorship lasts forever. Dictators have their time of reckoning and are toppled. By 1986, people power ousted Marcos from Malacanang and the dictator had gone into exile in Hawaii, where he died.

Why remember and not let go of that memory of Martial Law?

So people will never forget the suppressed freedoms, the abuses, the corruption, the stolen billions, the unjust imprisonment and torture, the unsolved disappearances, deaths and murders during the Marcos dictatorship.

The heirs and followers of the Marcoses want all to move on. Easy for them to say so while clinging on to and not returning the billions that rightly belong to the Filipino people. No sincere apology or contrition has come from their side to the families of the victims of martial law and to the rest of the Filipino people.

Instead, they have used their power and stolen wealth to have the ousted, undeserving despotic be buried among the genuine heroes of our land. The heirs even want to rule “to make this country great again.” They refuse to accept history and actual local/foreign records of the dictator’s stolen wealth and crimes. They are bent on rewriting history, myopically insistent on restoring the grandeur of the dictator and his reign.

Gratefully, Filipinos across generations and sectors still continue to remember not to forget martial law and the dictatorship. Despite the seeming resurgence of dictatorship by one who idolized the former despotic, undaunted groups and individuals have publicly assembled to remind all other Filipinos that freedom, our country, and our people Filipinos are worth fighting for.

With heads bowed, hands and hearts have lifted prayers for a better, prosperous, protective Philippines for Filipinos.

Out in the streets, on stage, on film, through social media, radio, TV, dialogues, discussions, assemblies and gatherings (with social distancing observed), collective memories vs martial law, vs dictatorship were shared with the hope that these are etched and will last in hearts and minds and our country, our people, defended forever, across generations.

A better Philippines can be constructed with freedoms guaranteed, with people encouraged to participate in a God-centered governance marked by transparency, honesty, justice, truth and genuine public service.

Amidst so much lies and untruths being peddled, where rights and lives of thousands are ignored and stifled, the hope lives on that there are still more freedom lovers among Filipinos. The hope still springs eternal that truth and justice will be allowed to shine brightly to guide Filipinos to the right path of true democracy.

Is the rule of, for, and by the people or genuine democracy possible? Still so much to hurdle to realize that better society for all.

History is witness that wealth and power inequalities persist but not impossible to dismantle. Our own history has proven that martial law and dictatorships are not immutable and people power real.