(Due to its timeliness, we yield this space to the statement of the Academics Unite for Human Rights and Democracy, a broad network of Filipino academics promoting human rights inside and outside academia. – Ed.)
MARTIAL Law in the Philippines was a disaster. With an almost-demonic fervor, Ferdinand Marcos sanctioned and ordered the illegal arrest, torture, and murder of thousands of Filipinos whose only crime was the pursuit of social and economic justice. The Marcoses stole billions of pesos in public funds, gutted public services with their greed and corruption, repressed basic human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly, and left a legacy of oppression and exploitation that Filipinos are still confronting decades later.
The current attempts to rehabilitate the Marcoses is a systematic undertaking to distort history and erase the suffering endured by millions of poor and abused Filipinos during their dictatorship. The Marcoses are disgusting and soulless people. However, they have used their ill-gotten wealth and power to launch a massive campaign to confuse, mislead, and lie to Filipinos about their family’s crimes. Meanwhile successive post-Marcos administrations have turned a blind eye to these efforts which of late have included the churning out of distorted textbooks, the tapping of influential personalities and the flooding of social media as platforms for disinformation.
Rodrigo Duterte has matched Marcos in repression and brutality. Even during a global pandemic, he is more focused on counter-insurgency and the harassment of his critics, even if it means leaving millions of sick and vulnerable Filipinos without government support. The recent purge of books on the GRP-NDFP talks from Kalinga State University is an example of this administration’s Marcosian efforts to silence dissent and present a distorted and inaccurate view of history. It is an example of the intensifying national crisis of education, wherein state agencies are more concerned with molding obedient, unquestioning citizens rather than people with the capacity for critical thinking and analysis.
Marking the 49th anniversary of the imposition of martial law by the dictator Marcos has added significance today as we face similar conditions today. We vow to never forget the lessons from the 14-year people’s struggle to overthrow the dictatorship. As educators, we stand with other sectors today in defense of academic freedom, peace and human rights. We stand against attacks against truth and memory. We stand in solidarity with all the victims of Martial Law and those who have been unwavering in their fight for justice until today. #NeverForget
