The overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship is the backdrop to the drafting of the 1987 Constitution.
The power of the people deposed a tyrant whose greed was boundless and whose cruelty was criminal to countless victims who were detained arbitrarily, tortured, made to “disappear” and “salvaged” during the martial law years.
The Constitution was written after nationwide consultations with a sovereign people whose valiant resistance to ruthless dictatorial rule and vision of a new social order are inscribed in its provisions.
The heart of the Constitution underscores in no uncertain terms: the primacy of human rights, the promotion of social justice in all phases of national development, strict adherence to the rule of law, and never again to any form of authoritarianism.
It envisions a different future from the Marcosian nightmare of greed, intolerance, brutality and disrespect for democratic institutions. And we are inspired by the outpouring of protest by the youth who give life to our hope for generations of heroes who are the antithesis of everything that was Marcos.
We condemn the burial of the dictator Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, in shameless treachery, in disregard of the facts of history, in contempt of the grief and sufferings of the bereaved victims of martial law, and in defiance of the hopes of our people and their children to build a future based on the values of truth, justice, respect for human rights and caring for others.
FELICITAS AQUINO ARROYO, ADOLFO S. AZCUNA, FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID, HILARIO G. DAVIDE JR., EDMUNDO G. GARCIA, JOSE LUIS MARTIN C. GASCON, CHRISTIAN S. MONSOD, RICARDO J. ROMULO, JAMES S.L. TADEO, BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS