Remember the horrors of martial law

This is a reaction to Nikka G. Valenzuela’s article, “Martial Law Museum to rise by 2022, on 50th commemoration” (8/26/19).

As part of a team that made it to the semifinal round of the Freedom Memorial Design Competition, I must thank and congratulate the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVVMC) for organizing this successful event.

Its awarding ceremony, appropriately held on Aug. 21, Ninoy Aquino’s 36th death anniversary, was an enjoyable evening affair that was well planned, executed and hosted.

Of course, congratulations as well to the five finalists, especially to the eventual grand winners, Mark Anthony Pait, Wendell Crispo, Mark Angelo Bonita and Audie Palma.

After consoling each other for not having reached the final round, my teammates and I later on were all in agreement that their team was most deserving of the top prize.

That they were not yet born during the martial law period makes their victory all the more impressive and inspiring. May their story and victory arouse in many of today’s youth the desire to pore over the pages of legitimate historical books, so that they (re)discover on their own what really happened during that bloody period in our country.

In this day and age, the youth should take time to research, considering all the falsehoods being perpetuated online in the name of historical revisionism.

Allow me to also praise all our fellow participants for collectively showing the amazing artistry and design skills of Filipino architects young and old.

I have to admit that many design entries, even those from among the semifinalists, blew me away and made me feel prouder of our profession and our nationality, as well as the richness and diversity of our culture. I was a proud semifinalist that night at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

I look forward to that day in 2022 when the Filipino public (and even foreigners) can enter the Freedom Memorial Museum, which will help us remember the horrors that many of our countrymen went through and died of during the dictatorship.

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