You’ve probably also heard the dictator’s supporters
To young Filipinos who
never knew martial law
and dictatorship
By: Benjamin Pimentel
SAN FRANCISCO — You’ve been hearing a lot about
the date – September 21, 1972 — and the event — the
day martial law was imposed on our country, the day
the Marcos dictatorship was born.
That was 40 years ago.
This may not mean much to you who grew up after the
nightmare finally ended, after Filipinos rallied to oust
one of the most despicable leaders in world history.
You’ve probably heard about him. If you travel north,
you might even see his corpse in a glass case. You
might also see remnants of a giant bust carved on the
side of a mountain.
You know how shameless Filipino politicians show off
by putting up big posters with their photos in public
places? Well, try to imagine living under a leader who
actually thought that he was so great he should have
his face carved on a gigantic rock for all to see.
Think about it.
Someone blew up that bust many years ago — which is
really a shame. It was hideous, but still, it could have
served as a reminder of what we went through. What
your parents and grandparents went through under
Ferdinand Marcos.
You probably heard about the debates on whether he
should be buried with our other heroes at the Libingan
ng mga Bayani. You probably heard his son, now a
senator, defending his record, claiming that had
Marcos not been overthrown, the country would have
turned into another Singapore.
It’s a bizarre claim. And I never get tired of pointing
this out: Bongbong is essentially arguing that the
Philippines would have become another Singapore,
known as one of the least corrupt nations in the world,
under a president considered one of the most corrupt
leaders in history. (Google “most corrupt leaders” and
you’ll understand why Bongbong is bonkers.)
remember those years as the good ‘ol days. The
country was more peaceful, and people were happier,
they’d say.
You know what, in some ways, they were right.
I was eight years old when martial law was declared,
and I remember being so happy that day. Classes were
suspended, and there was nothing to watch on TV but
cartoons.
Our neighbors and even my parents were glad to see an
end to the student demonstrations. People were lining
up to ride a jeepney. To some, it certainly looked like
an entirely different country.
And it was.
But these were not the changes that most people,
especially the middle class, thought were actually
taking place.
For in those early months and years, middle class and
upper-class families welcomed Marcos’s version of
“peace and order,” the orderly queues and the empty
streets where activists once voiced their opposition to
corruption and injustice. But behind the scenes,
unknown to many, the stealing, the torture, the killing
had begun.
It had grown quiet all of sudden, because those who
had the guts to speak out had been silenced.
Imprisoned. Tortured. Co-opted. Murdered.
Actually, back then, the term Marcos’s goons used was
“salvage.” Yes, salvage, as in “to save” or “to rescue.”
For that was how Marcos and his allies imposed
“peace and order.” They saved the regime’s critics and
opponents – by killing them.
Later on, even the phrase “peace and order” morphed
into a sick joke. My father enjoyed telling it.
“Peace and order? Ah, that actually means, ‘I want a
piece of this. I want a piece of that. And that’s an
order.’”
Remember that the next time you hear of Imelda’s
jewels or shoes, of news about some mansion or bank
account linked to the Marcoses.
Then there’s the argument that goes like this: ‘What
was the point of getting rid of Marcos? Look at how
there’s still so much corruption and injustice in
Philippine society after all these years.’
Good point.
But one thing you need to remember, and perhaps we
need to remind ourselves about this too, those of us
who joined the uprising to get rid of Marcos — We
didn’t march thinking we would suddenly live in
paradise. We didn’t face riot police and the security
forces thinking that the country’s problems– the
corruption, the poverty, the abuse of power — would
suddenly disappear.
We joined the fight to get rid of a tyrant. And guess
what – we won. And you won.
make them better. It is perfectly all right for you to
march, to picket and even to go Noynoying.
Just don’t believe those who say it was much better
before.
You’ll hear it from Marcos’s old allies.
You’ll hear it from those who simply don’t like
democracy, who find it inconvenient because it keeps
them from acquiring more wealth and more power.

I know it’s hard to believe, especially given all the You’ll hear from those who just can’t stand ideas they
news of corruption and abuse and of people dying and don’t agree with, who arrogantly think they have all
disappearing. the answers and must therefore have all the power.

But trust me: it was much, much worse back then. It
was a much scarier, more violent time, when even the
mildest criticism of government, of Marcos, of Imelda,
could land you in jail or even get you killed.
Look at it this way. Some of you don’t like the current
president. And you probably even joined the fad of
Noynoying, making fun of the guy, calling him all
sorts of names. You know what would have happened
to you if you had tried a stunt like that during the
Marcos years?
Marcos’s allies want you to forget that. They want you
to see the long struggle against dictatorship, and the
uprising that finally brought it down as wasted effort.
They’ll present themselves as the nation’s saviors
based on twisted claims. Some would point to their
military discipline and experience. Others would claim
to have the correct political line base on historical
truths. Some would claim to have god on their side.
Don’t trust the liars and the bullies. Democracy can be
messy and chaotic. But the alternatives are even
messier. They create a false, deceptive sense of “peace
and order.”
A delusion.
Like the cartoon shows I watched the day Marcos’s
dictatorship began its reign of destruction.

Which is really an absurd view if you think about it.

Acquired from:
It’s like telling our heroes and those who waged past
struggles in our history that everything that happened, https://globalnation.inquirer.net/49932/to-young-
everything they did was a waste. filipinos-who-never-knew-martial-law-and-dictatorship

It’s like telling Jose Rizal, “You know those novels

and essays and poems you wrote, including that last
one you composed shortly before you were shot to
death by the Spaniards, all that was a waste of time.
For look at how messed up the country is right now.”

It’s like telling my own father, “Papa, joining the

guerrillas was a stupid idea, given how the country
whose freedom you defended against the Japanese has
turned out.”

Fighting Marcos was worth it. For we took on a bully

and we won.

This is not to downplay or dismiss the problems the

country faces today.

And you should speak out about them. You should

complain and protest. You should demand that things
should be better, and you should go out there to try to