ON SUNDAY, Sept. 21, 1972 former Philippine Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law. For today’s Filipinos, 42 years may seem like another lifetime—a bygone period with sketchy details of what martial law entailed for the people who had to endure it.
But for those who lived through the wretched moments of this tumultuous era in Philippine history, the horror and pain live on, including for Pres. Benigno Aquino III.
When martial law took effect, then Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was one of the first to be arrested. He spent seven years confined in a military prison until, in 1979, was allowed to leave for the US due to his health condition.
Sen. Aquino returned to the country in 1983, to continue his fight for the restoration of the Filipinos’ right and freedom. Saying, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” he braved apparent coercions and perils that await him for opposing the dictatorship. He met his death upon his arrival at the Manila International Airport. He was shot in the head while being escorted off the airplane by his captors via the Manila International Airport.
Reliving these painful memories in its anniversary, Pres. Aquino walked down memory lane with his kababayans in Boston, where the family spent part of his father’s exile during martial law.
“Every aspect of life was controlled by the dictator, and unless you belonged to the favored few, you had very limited rights. A curfew limited the time you could be outside your home; travel abroad required official permission; and there was no such thing as free speech, or freedom of assembly,” Pres. Aquino recalled.
Despite the hardships, Pres. Aquino said he owed Boston and their friends in the area for granting the Aquino family sense of normalcy as they suffered through Marcos’ dictatorship.
“It was here in Boston that I learned the value of introspection… I consider my time here as amongst my formative years, fortifying me for the continuation of the struggle, and arming me with relevant experiences… It was in Boston, thanks to all our friends, that my family was given a haven from the persecution of the dictatorship,” Pres. Aquino reminisced.
Remembering the lowest point in their family’s lives, Pres. Aquino lamented how the martial law caused them father’s life. He admitted that he wanted to avenge his father’s death, to exact revenge against Marcos and his cronies.
“As the only son, I felt an overwhelming urge to exact an eye for an eye. I knew that he was a formidable foe, and the fight would be impossible, but regardless of this, in those moments, all I wanted to do to Mr. Marcos and his camp, was to do unto him as he had done unto us,” Pres. Aquino said.
Despite all these, he noted that his father’s assassination became a turning point, leading to the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that catapulted his mother, former Pres. Corazon Aquino at the helm of the Philippine government and ending the Marcos tyranny.
To conclude his speech, Pres. Aquino shared that Filipinos today are at the threshold of sustained, positive change in society.
“We have corrected the inefficiencies in government, stopped the wrong practices, and engendered a shift in the Filipino mindset, from one of indifference and despair, to one where we can dream again, and are increasingly being given the wherewithal to fulfill our dreams,” Pres. Aquino recounted.
Much has been achieved since martial law. But with present controversies hounding current government leaders, Philippine politics appears to be hampered by bureaucracy, manipulation of money, interests of capital and the status quo.
As painful as it is, remembering lessons from the martial law inspires Filipinos to never let it happen again. To do so, Filipinos must remember the People Power Revolution has brought them.
Filipinos must appreciate the genuine meaning of democracy. It is empowered by the will of the people. It gives the citizenry the power to overturn the culture of corruption, unethical conduct, and self-serving antics of politics.
(AJPress)
