Protesters to hold teach-in at People Power Monument

MANILA, Philippines — Activist groups and other sectoral representatives will gather on EDSA tomorrow to mark the 36th anniversary of people power by holding a teach-in for the public about the repressive regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The Akademiya at Bayan Kontra Disimpormasyon at Dayaan (ABKD) said yesterday that academics, teachers, education workers and martial law veterans will hold a grand teach-in at the EDSA People Power Monument.

“The grand teach-in considers the event as a remembrance of the people’s sacrifices and solidarity which dismantled the Marcos dictatorship,” Ramon Guillermo, ABKD spokesman, said in a statement.

Organizers of the activity are hoping the event, which will start at 9 a.m., would educate the public about the atrocities during martial law to counter what they described as disinformation being peddled by the Marcoses. It will be livestreamed on Facebook.

“The event is also a way to protect the essential truths about the martial law period,” the group said.

When Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he dissolved Congress and imprisoned political opponents.

Critics said at least 3,340 fell victim to extrajudicial killings, 34,000 were tortured and 70,000 incarcerated during the dark era.

The Marcoses are also accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth, P174.2 billion of which was recovered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) while P125.9 billion remains unaccounted for.

“The purported ‘golden age’ in economic development is a sham as after the Marcos ouster in 1986, the country’s economy took two decades to fully recover from stagnation caused by massive looting of public coffers,” the group said.

“Despite these facts, the Marcoses have continually dismissed their culpability for these crimes and have taken advantage of various social media platforms to spread disinformation and historical distortion,” Guillermo lamented. – Elizabeth Marcelo