Martial Law really happened

In history, we commemorate glorious days and eras that make us proud of our nation and its people. However, almost every nation in the world also remember its “days of infamy” mainly to remind us never to let those dark days happen again. 

The Marcos martial law period was one of the darkest times in Philippine history. It has been said that only the Japanese occupation during the Second World War inflicted more suffering for the Filipino people. One would think that those responsible for the tragedy of the martial law would dedicate themselves to making amends as their penance and asking forgiveness for their sins. Instead we see a concerted effort to revise history – to deny the tortures and human rights violations that happened. There is even an almost comical attempt to repaint that period of our history as some kind of golden age.

I never thought that after 34 years, those who were responsible for so much suffering would be seeking to go back in  power. Unbelievably, they are seeking to return to power espousing the same Marcosian ideology. The past 34 years represent an entire generation who never experienced martial law. There is a need to educate this new generation on what really happened.

In a previous column, I recommended four books that reflect the real history of martial law. These books are Marcos Martial Law: Never Again by Raissa Robles; A Garrison State in  the Making and Other Speeches by Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.; introductory notes by Nick Joaquin: Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story by Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr.; LABAN: His Story, a collection of essays by several authors including Jose Cojuangco Jr., Ninoy Aquino, Corazon Aquino and Nick Joaquin.

On the eve of the day we remember the imposition of martial law, here is another book  I would recommend. It may not be that easy to find, but make the effort because it is a must-read book: NOT ON OUR WATCH: Martial Law Really Happened. We Were There, edited by Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon.  The 13 writers in the book were all college editors during their students days in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The book includes the following articles: Introduction: The Hollow Years, The Full Years by Conrad de Quiros; Forty Years in China: From Student Activist to International Journalist by Jaime FlorCruz; Remembering the Music...and the Storm by Jay Valencia Glorioso: Taking the Track Less Trodden by Manuel M. Dayrit; A Dead Toenail  by Vic Wenceslao; Scruples After the First Quarter Storm by Diwa C. Guinigundo; Marcos’s Dark Legacy to the Nation by Victor H. Manarang;  The Political Economy of Martial Law by Calixto V. Chikiamco; Images of Martial Rule; Lest We Forget  by Roberto Verzola; Martial Law Baby by Sol F. Juvida; From Flower to People Power (Memoirs of a Petit Bourgeois) by Jack Teotico; I See, I Forgive, I Forget by Al S. Mendoza; The First of Our Dead by Jose Dalisay Jr.,Illustration by Ed Aragon. In his essay, Conrad de Quiros writes:

“We are a country that has the hardest time remembering anything. That is fallow ground for planting the seeds of historical revisionism, and the Marcoses have been hard at work in it. Time and the Marcoses have embarked on the Great Forgetting. It is things like this that should jolt us into a Great Remembering.

Martial Law was a time when so many of the country’s best and brightest fell into the dark pit of state terrorism. But this was also a time when so many of the country’s best and brightest rose to remind the world what it means to be the best and brightest. It is not just to be bright enough to become CEO of a big company or succeed abroad. It is to be bright enough to know that you become your best when you serve the people.

These are their stories. These are our stories. They make us see a time in their lives that defined them, they make us see a time in our lives that shaped us...They made us see what once was and could be again. They make us see.”

One of the most heartbreaking stories was written by Roberto Verzola who was imprisoned for several years. He narrated the many times he was tortured in detail. Here is one of his experiences:

“Then they brought in the Machine. Two lengths of wire extended from it, both ending with bare wire, the insulation stripped. One end was tied around the handle of a spoon. The Machine is a field telephone generator. It has a wheel with a handle. The wheel turns a dynamo, which generates electricity that causes a distant telephone to ring. The field generator probably generates forty to sixty volts and if turned really fast may give as high as ninety volts or more. My interrogators tied the end of one wire around my right index finger and inserted the spoon into my pants , on my right waist, until it rested where the leg meets the lower abdomen near the crotch.

When I was young, I used to watch  my uncle and older cousins whenever they slaughtered a pig. As soon as the pig realized something bad was going to happen , it would shriek for dear life. It was a grating shriek of helplessness, desperation and terror...it was that kind of scream that issued from my throat every time my torturers spun the wheel around.“

The millennial generation must never forget the deplorable and cruel years of the Marcos martial law.

Creative writing classes for kids and teens

Young Writers’ Hangout on Oct. 6 and 13 (1:30pm-3pm; stand-alone sessions) fiction writing with Sarge Lacuesta on Sept. 22 (1:30-4:30 pm) at Fully Booked BGC. For details and registration,  email [email protected].

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