My 65-year-old aunt, who witnessed the martial law era, argued that the martial law years were the “golden era” since there was peace and order in the country, and Filipinos were disciplined at the time. She added that, in Naga City, there were no human rights violations as far as her memory could recall.
There are still Filipinos, including seniors from my own family, who have romanticized the martial law years’ “orderliness” and believe that Marcos was a great leader — totally disregarding the human rights violations committed during the darkest era in the country’s history.
What “golden age” when there is a lot of evidence documenting the abuses, extrajudicial killings, corruption, and violations of human rights during Marcos’ rule? The numbers speak for themselves: 70,000 incarcerated, 77 disappeared, 3,257 extrajudicial killings, and 35,000 tortured, according to Amnesty International.
These atrocities were further corroborated by Primitivo Mijares, media man of Ferdinand Marcos and author of “The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.” Mijares’ youngest son disappeared, was tortured, and eventually found dead due to his father’s revelations in the said book. This horrific tragedy that happened to Mijares and his son manifests the brutal rule of Marcos.
The Martial Law Museum reported that the debt of the Philippines skyrocketed to $28.26 billion in 1986 from $0.36 billion in 1961. In addition, the infrastructures that Imelda Marcos bragged about were funded by foreign loans that the present and future generations have the burden of paying.
With these historical facts and data, no one should turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed during the martial law years. Now more than ever, it has become even more crucial for students to seek historical truths about this period.
Students are now being targeted to believe in the lies of the Marcos family through historical revisionism in our textbooks. The youth who were not yet born at that time are likely to be susceptible to such lies, while privileged adults can easily dismiss history because they never experienced the cruelty and hardships under the Marcos administration.
It is high time for all of us to be united on what is right. Filipinos should dispel lies and apathy if we want justice to prevail, especially now that the dictator’s son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong“ Marcos Jr., aspires to be the president.
We, the students, must ensure that our educators preserve the historical facts about martial law in our textbooks. This is our responsibility: to preserve history, protect historical truth, and advance Filipinos’ interest first.
PAOLO GABRIEL D. JAMER
paolojamer10@gmail.com