Priests and religious fought Marcos tyranny

Etched on the Wall of Remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani are the names of 27 priests/pastors and religious (women and men) who fought the Marcos dictatorship. A number of them died violent deaths or are counted among the desaparecidos (the disappeared). Many of them fought and died without seeing the dawn. The others continued the fight to end tyranny and died after freedom had been won.

They are among the 287 individuals who are in the Bantayog ng mga Bayani’s roster of heroes.

Know more by visiting the Bantayog website (https://www.bantayog.org/) and reminisce about those you knew and struggled with, or learn about many on the list for the first time. Or better still, physically visit the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City (corner Edsa and Quezon Avenue, near the Centris MRT station). And why not also visit https://martiallawmuseum.ph/?

The list here is by no means complete if we include lay church workers who also gave up their lives and have made it to the Bantayog list. Alas, this column space has its limits. (Anyway, yearly and almost without fail, I write about the latest additions to Bantayog’s list of martyrs and heroes from different sectors.)

Today, 45 years after the declaration of martial law that ushered in a repressive regime that lasted 14 years (1972-1986), I list here the names of the heroes and martyrs from the church sector, they who held up the light during those dark times under tyrannical rule. I present their names in the hope that readers would recognize their contribution to the restoration of freedom in this country. And so that those who knew them personally (as I did a good number of them) would pause to remember and emulate their courage in these present times as we gaze, once again, at the darkening sky.

9 WOMEN RELIGIOUS (CATHOLIC)

+ SR. MARY CONSUELO CHUIDIAN RGS

+ SR. MARY CONCEPCION CONTI RGS

+ SR. MARIANI DIMARANAN SFIC

+ SR. MARY VIRGINIA GONZAGA RGS

+ SR. MARY BERNARD JIMENEZ CM

+ SR. MARY CATHERINE LORETO RGS

+ SR. VIOLETA MARCOS AMP

+ SR. ASUNCION MARTINEZ ICM

+ SR. MARY CHRISTINE TAN RGS

10 ORDAINED DIOCESAN PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS AND DEACONS (CATHOLIC)

+ FR. ZACARIAS G. AGATEP

+ FR. GODOFREDO ALINGAL SJ

+ FR. PEPITO BERNARDO

+ FR. TULLIO FAVALI PIME

+ FR. PACIFICO ORTIZ SJ

+ FR. ROSALEO ROMANO CSSR

+ FR. NILO VALERIO SVD

+ FR. ROBERTO SALAC

+ DEACON TRIFONIO ANDRES

+ DEACON CARLOS TAYAG OSB

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT CHURCH, PROTESTANT

+ FR. JEREMIAS AQUINO

+ DEACONESS FILOMENA ASUNCION

+ BISHOP LAVERNE MERCADO

+ PASTOR CIRILO RIGOS

4 BISHOPS (CATHOLIC)

+ BISHOP JULIO LABAYEN OCD

+ BISHOP ANTONIO FORTICH

+ BISHOP MIGUEL PURUGGANAN

+ JAIME CARDINAL SIN

Tomorrow, I and several other martial law survivors will be speaking at a forum organized by the Ateneo University’s Faculty Association, School Forum, and Ugnayan ng mga Makabayang Guro — their way of “keeping our faith and hope in a repressive time.” Their objective is “to draw lessons from the lives and experiences of those who not only lived through the dark days of martial law, but also contributed in their own ways to the restoration of democracy in our country. Our hope is for the community to listen to stories of endurance and good so that those of us who feel helpless may cultivate inner resources that will help us to confront the moral issues of our time, including extrajudicial killings.”

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