This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 33, September 25-October 1, 2005
Images of Martial Law
BY CARL
RAMOTA
Bulatlat
The sixties and seventies were marked by the
sweeping current of nationalism and dissent all over the country. This period,
particularly the “First Quarter Storm” of 1970, is considered as the height of
student activism until today. Youth and students took to the streets almost
everyday, carrying anti-Marcos placards and chanting "Marcos: Tuta, Diktador,
Pasista!” (Marcos: Puppet, Dictator, Fascist!) Not even the declaration of
martial law in 1972 succeeded in crushing the growing anti-imperialist and
anti-Marcos movement.
Thirty three years after, does today's
generation of Filipinos still remember the events in what was dubbed as the
darkest era of Philippine history? Are the Filipino youth becoming more
forgetful nowadays?
Bulatlat asked several youths from different
schools and professions on what they know of martial law and found how the
present generation of young Filipinos now sees these gloomy years of the past.
Most of the respondents were born during the last years of martial.
Ang naaalala ko,
hindi ako pinapalabas ng nanay ko nung 7 years old ako kasi nanghuhuli daw ng
mga bata ang Constabulary at ipinapakain kay Marcos. Well, although hindi naman
talaga totoo, malinaw na badtrip ang parents ko sa rehimen ni Makoy nung panahon
na yon, kaya pag nakikita ko si Marcos sa TV, nililipat namin ng channel ng kuya
ko kasi me afraid mode kami sa kanya.
Saka
hindi niya pinatapos ang Voltes V kasi violent daw.
Huh? Badtrip.
(What I remember as a 7-year-old was my mother refused to let me go out because
the Constabulary were arresting children as Marcos’ food. Even if it wasn’t
true, it was clear that my parents hated the Marcos regime. If Marcos appeared
on TV my brother and I would switch to other channels out of fear of Marcos. My
mother also refused to watch Voltes V because it was violent. Huh? Badtrip.)
Jason Valenzuela, layout/graphic
artist
Masyado pa tayong bata noon to remember
anything. Probably (yung naaalala ko ay) yung curfew.
(I was too young then to remember anything. Probably I remember the curfew.)
And I can't imagine how I'd deal with that if I were already alive during the
martial law period. Reyland Habab, marketing officer, 21
Maraming militar tapos yung mga tao walang
magawa dahil kapag nagtipon sila ng dalawa o lampas sa dalawa sinisita agad sila.
Ayon sa mga nabasa, maraming
nawawala, di na sila makita hanggang sa ngayon.
Siyempre yung mga ito patuloy pa ring dine-deny
ng pamilyang Marcos. (There were many
soldiers and people couldn’t do anything – two or three people gathering
together would be watched. Based on what I read, many people were missing until
today. Of course the Marcos family kept on denying all these until today.) "Lemuel,"
student, Ateneo de Manila, 20
Constitutional authoritarianism, massive
corruption, no press freedom, lots of political prisoners, Imelda's shoes.
Iris Gene Varon, transcriptionist, 21
Wala naman akong masyadong clear na ano
(memory about martial law), yung impression na I got from martial law (ay isa
itong) period of widespread human rights violations. Maraming namatay at
maraming pinatay. Yun din yung panahon na maraming naging aktibista. Batay din
sa kwento rin ng tita ko at mommy ko, nung panahon na yun, mas mahirap maging
hindi tibak (aktibista) kaysa sa maging tibak. Pinupush ka talaga ng mga
conditions noon na tumungo sa lansangan at kumilos.
(I have no clear memory about martial law, my impression is that there was
widespread human rights violations. Many people were killed. But it was also the
period when there were many activists. Based on what my aunt and mother told me,
that was the time when it was a problem if you were not an activist. Conditions
pushed you to go to the streets and do something.) Alvin Peters, student, UP
Diliman, 24
The tortures, sufferings of countless Filipinos;
the deprivation of civil and political rights. Charisma Madriaga, student,
San Beda College of Law, 22
Wala akong maalala dahil baby pa ako noon.
Batay na lang sa kasaysayan...ang batas militar ay isang panahon ng pagsikil sa
demokratikong karapatan ng mga mamamayan.
(I couldn’t remember anything because I was still a baby. Based on history,
martial law was a period when people’s rights were suppressed.) Michael Pante,
editor in chief, Matanglawin, Ateneo de Manila, 21
Martial law baby ako, 1980. Nang magkamalay
ako ang naririnig ko ay Edsa revolution na. Pero marami akong nakausap na
talagang ayaw sa martial law dahil sa mala-robot na katangian ng mga tao.
Although sinasabing disiplinado yung mga tao alam natin na ito ay supresyon
dahil maraming pinagbabawal, lalo na yung civil and political rights ng mga tao.
Pag nagsasalita yung magulang ko tungkol dun, magkabilang mukha kasi yung tatay
ko pulis, kaya na-confirm ko kung paano nila ginamit yung kamay na bakal para
kunwari raw ay madisiplina yung mga tao.
(I was a martial law baby, 1980. I became politically conscious at the time of
the Edsa revolution. But I met many people who opposed martial law because it
made them look like robots. People may have appeared to be disciplined but I
would call that more of suppression as there many prohibitions especially civil
and political rights. My father was a cop so I was also able to learn how
[Marcos] used the iron fist to maintain peace and order.) Leni Valeriano,
Student Christian Movement national staff, 25
Power tripping, abuse of human rights...ano
pa ba? Yun lang ang naiisip ko e, nakakabobo talaga sa call center.
(Power tripping, abuse of human rights...what else? Those are what I
remember...) Ellyn Pastores, Customer Service Representative, 22
Ang sabi nung martial law kapag tinignan mo
sa mata yung militar papatayin ka na. Mas marami pa raw na namatay sa kanayunan
na di na naabot ng media. Batay lang din ito sa kwento ng mga kamag-anak ko.
(It was said that if you looked into the eyes of a soldier he would kill you.
More people were killed in the provinces and these were not reported by the
media. These are the stories told to me by my relatives.) Benjie
Mabuti, student, Philippine Maritime Institute, 22
I guess yung curfew for everyone which is OK
para sa akin. Yung negative siguro yung press freedom nawala.
(I guess the curfew for everybody, which was OK with me. The lack of press
freedom is the negative one.)
Chris Cada, student, De La Salle
University, 22
Pagkakabiyak ng naghaharing uri at
lantarang pagbebenta ng pambansang patrimonya ng bansa.
(The severance of national patrimony and its
sell-out.) Terry Ridon, student, UP Manila, 19
Ang sabi ng mga matatanda may mga curfew,
wala nang lumalabas ng pag disoras na. Mas maganda yung dati. Dapat nga ganun na
lang yung ginawa nila para wala ng rapist, wala ng magnanakaw. Dapat ibalik na
lang yung martial law para wala ng mga krimen di kagaya ngayon sobrang dami. Mas
mabuti yun kahit pa sabihin mong may curfew at di ka na makakalabas, kaysa
ngayon makakalabas ka nga ang dami namang panganib na nag-aabang sa'yo.
(My old folks told me that during curfew nobody was out in the streets. That was
better. That should have been done because there were no rapists, no thieves.
Martial law should be restored to curb criminality unlike today where it is
rampant. It was better that way – today you are free to be out in the streets at
your own risk.) Mara Racoma, student,
University of Makati, 24
Wala na akong masyadong matandaan. Pero kasi
lagi kaming naka-dilaw. Ayaw nilang magsuot kami ng blue, red and white kasi
kulay daw ni Marcos yun. Di kami masyadong lumalabas ng bahay.
(I couldn’t remember anything anymore. We were always wearing yellow. Nobody
wanted us to wear blue, red and while because those were the colors of Marcos.
We went out of the house less often.) Tal Medina, teacher, 21
Si Marcos...oppression ng press freedom. Saka
sikat nun yung mass movement. E di maraming militar nun, maraming mga nag-under
ground, maraming hinuli, maraming di na nakauwi ng bahay.
(Marcos.... suppression of press freedom. The mass movement gained credibility.
There were many soldiers, many people also went underground, there were many
arrests, many who were unable to return home.) Trina Federis, student, Saint
Paul College, 19
Para sa akin kasi, yung martial law pwede
mong tignan as either sa magandang nangyari sa bansa natin o the darkest times
sa history natin. Depende sa tao yun. Mahirap mag-comment kasi second hand na
yung info natin. Lagi mo kasi mako-connect yung martial law sa violence at
suppression ng rights ng tao. Kaya para sa tulad ko na di pa buhay nun iniisip
ko na kahit na gaano pa kaganda yung nagawa ng martial law o yung reason sa
behind sa pagdeclare nun, di pa rin siguro sapat na justification yun sa mga
biktima ng human rights violations. Para kasing ang hirap mabuhay pag ganun, e.
(To me, one can look at martial law as being good for the country or as being
history’s darkest period. It all depends on how you look at it. It’s difficult
to comment because of second-hand information. You tend to relate martial law to
violence and suppression of rights. To people like me who were not born [when
martial law was declared], even if they say martial law was good for the
country, it couldn’t be justified as far as the numerous victims of human rights
violations are concerned.) Carlo Logro, currently unemployed, 24
Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
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