Activities mark 50 years since martial law

MANILA, Philippines — Several activities will be held across the country today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.

Groups will gather at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City for a cultural event titled “SING-KWENTA: Mga Kanta at Kuwento Tungkol sa Martial Law.”

A parade of floats depicting issues under martial law will precede the event, which will feature performances by various artists and testimonies from martial law survivors and other organizations.

A “Never Again” mural will also be unveiled during the program.

Before the cultural event, several activities will be held across Metro Manila and in different parts of the country.

A “Barikada Laban sa Historical Distortion at Disinformation” will be held at the Commission on Human Rights central office in Quezon City at 9 a.m., followed by a youth mobilization at 2 p.m.

At the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, martial law survivors will take part in a “conversation express” before taking in the float parade and cultural event in UP.

Candle-lighting activities are also scheduled at Bantayog last night and tonight, as well as a mass for the victims of martial law.

The film “11,103” – which features the stories of martial law victims – will premier in time with the 50th anniversary of martial law.

In Bicol, a forum will be held at the Jesse M. Robredo Museum in Naga City.

Various academic institutions and organizations, including UP, lined up activities in their campuses this month.

This year’s commemoration will be the first under President Marcos, namesake and son of the late dictator.

The elder Marcos announced the declaration of martial law on Sept. 23, 1972, although the official document – Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972 – was dated two days earlier.

The government, through the Human Rights Victims Claims Board, has recognized the claims of 11,103 human rights victims during the martial law period.

Meanwhile, labor groups will take to the streets today to mark the 50th year of the declaration of martial law.

Partido ng Manggagwa (PM) secretary general Judy Miranda said militant groups are staging rallies to remember the struggles of workers and other sectors during the Marcos dictatorship.

“Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was neither a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity,” Miranda said.

She said there were widespread hunger and plunder of the public treasury.

“It was a golden age for the family of then president Marcos Sr. and not the Filipino people,” Miranda said. “There was massive discontent by workers during the martial law period over low wages, high prices, insecure jobs and employer abuse. In fact, despite repression by police and soldiers under the dictatorship, workers led protests and strikes that broke the white terror of martial law.” – Mayen Jaymalin, Paolo Romero