Images of Martial Law

Older Filipinos remember it as the nation’s darkest epoch. Those born during the last years of martial law have either faint memories of it or have heard stories mainly from parents, relatives and friends. A few of them were interviewed randomly by Bulatlat to share what they recall as the images of the Marcos dictatorship, 1972-1986.

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?

ELUSIVE STILL: The names of thousands of martial law martyrs are printed on a huge tarpauline sheet (backdrop, above photo). In front of it is a boy holding a streamer demanding justice for martial law victims. PHOTO BY ARKIBONG BAYAN

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   

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