“Batas Militar”

Critical Analysis
The documentary Film is about the “Batas Militar.” It shows what happened before and
until the end of Martial Law. Here we learned what are the events happened before and during
the martial law. Such as the widespread bombing, rampant protest, price hike, killings, collapse
of the economy, and many more. We are also informed on some primary sources, which is the
statements of some witnesses or some significant persons that is present during the martial law. I
just want to be honest here, watching the movie being angry is just a secondary emotion I felt for
President Marcos, what I feel the most is admiration. That is because every step he takes on his
life looks like it is calculated, the steps he did from the time he wrote his thesis about
dictatorship and finally becoming a dictator himself is just so great. Whether it is in a bad way or
not we need to accept that he is one of the greatest President we ever have, because he is the only
one who prolonged his rein for 20 years.
The very first significance and relevance of the documentary film is it educates our
generation what happen in martial law. Watching the film informed us about the things, events,
and people involve in this part of the history of our country. We will be able to know the things
that shape our country today. Second is we will know what are the wrongdoings that we need not
to imitate. Like the rampant protest because it is one of the things who paved the way of martial
law. Another is if we want to be a politician, we should not be greedy and remember what our
duty to the country is, which is to protect its citizen. There are so many things we can see from
the movie that the people before do that lead to that tragic part of the history of our country.
Third is the counterpart of learning from the mistake which is learning and doing the right things
the people from the past did. I think the most notable right thing that they did in the past is the
People Power. They rally without causing violence and they succeed, while what happening now
in our generation is that rallies are full of violence. Last is that this film can inspire our
generation in many things. The first is being inspired how much Benigno Aquino love our
country, this guy was ready to be tortured or even killed for his motherland. I know there are
those who will get mad at this, but I think that we should also be inspired on the tenacity of
former President Marcos. That man come form being a prisoner, toping the board exam,
defending himself at court, becoming a politician, and finally become a president for 20 years.
The Martial Law is really one of the darkest past of the Philippines. This event cause so
many negative effects but also positive effects in our country. It is one of the things that shape
our country in its current state. That is why even if it’s a terrible past our generation and the
generation next to us and so on still need to know what happened during this period because
without this Philippines will not be the same us to what we see it now.