Celebrating the Unsung Heroes During the Dark Martial Law Years

I was lucky that I studied in UP because I was able to learn about the heroics of Evelio Javier, Edgar Jopson, Lean Alejandro and countless other young men and women who laid down their lives against the Marcos dictatorship.  Unfortunately, with the continued ascendancy of the Marcoses and some of their cronies, it's like nothing has happened and those who suffered under their hands have been given little or no financial remuneration, and worse, no apologies at all.

If you read this Inquirer article, you'll find out that there were many ordinary people who fought during those dark years.  It would be interesting to buy the book that these siblings wrote.  That way, we may never forget the price they had to pay so that we would enjoy the freedom we are experiencing right now.

A heroic generation still cries: ‘Never again’

Why It's Hard to Hate Imelda Marcos

I know I have written some articles here that have an anti-Marcos slant, so this post might come across as confusing to many of you.

I think one reason why the Marcoses are still popular now is that they are actually very nice when you meet them in person.

The truth is, I have met many Pinoy politicians in social gatherings here and abroad and many of them are veritable snobs!! Marami sa mga supposedly "good" politicians are mga snabero in person and they don't even dignify you with a hello. Mga bwisit!

But not the Marcoses.

Mama and I met Imelda Marcos in a CCP show. When the show finished and as everyone was leaving their seats, Imelda looked towards our row and Mama and I waved to her and she smiled back. I thought it would end there.

When we were in the lobby, surprise, surprise, she sidles to us and says how are you, like we were her friends! I almost fainted!

We are nobodies in Manila society and Manila society was in full force that night, maybe she thought Mama was a former Blue Lady. Alam mo naman si Mother magbihis, parang Imeldific din!

Yun lang, we had no camera with us. This was during the time when cellphones did not have cameras and cameras were left with the guard. Kaya ayun, no evidence. But she was so gracious in making small talk and she made us feel important.

She has this incredible presence and this modulated voice (parang voice ni Meryl Streep sa The Devil Wears Prada).

You couldn't believe that a monster can look this beatific! LOL

I guess that's how she maintains her con game.

Why Didn't They Just Shoot the Marcoses?

I was just 15 years old when the EDSA revolution happened, and growing up in Cebu, which was rabidly anti-Marcos at that time, I watched as fellow Cebuanos rejoiced when the Marcos couple were airlifted out of the Manila.

When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, I was just seven months old and it was only when I was in college in UP when I fully learned about what they had done and the activists their military had killed, since we had to study the lives of Lean Alejandro and other very intelligent activists who gave up their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.  When I was reading about the lives of these activists, I was really saddened by their youthful yet brutal deaths but at the same time, awed by their bravery during a very dark period in our history, something which I don't think I'd ever do if I were in their shoes.  I think I would've just looked away rather than lose my life but I can never say how I'd react if I witness first hand the injustices that were happening at that time.  Nowadays, kasi, we can always opt to work abroad or immigrate even, if we feel this country can offer us nothing anymore.

In 1989, when the Iron Curtain fell, along with the other Communist-bloc countries in Europe, the Ceaucescu's of Romania, a notorious dictatorial couple like the Marcoses were executed by their countrymen, plain and simple.  Frankly, when that happened, I thought, why didn't they simply just do that to the Marcoses?  Para matapos na lahat - no more trials, paid na ang debts nila to the thousands of martial law victims - and the country can move on.  Tuloy, more than a quarter century after the EDSA Revolution, it's like nothing has happened, and 40 years after martial law, their injustices have gone unpunished - and the worst part is - they're back in power!  Talk about spitting on the graves of the desaparecidos. 

Anyway, this is just idle contemplation and we can't turn back time.  We can only move forward and try to appreciate the legacies of those men and women who suffered during the Marcos dictatorship. 

Just US$1000 for all the Pain

It's pathetic that it would take an American court to order us to pay the victims of the Marcos dictatorship.  But in a country whose justice system has failed us time and time again, we have to accept small victories like this, if just to give justice, elusive as it may be, to thousands who suffered under the Marcos dictatorship.  The rewards has just boiled down to US$1000 per complainant.  A pittance in this day and age, but I guess, what's important is the symbolic victory the decision has given to all these people who have suffered torture under that brutal regime.  There are still two pending cases which I hope will bear similar positive verdicts for all the complainants.