Martial law victims protest Marcos bill

MANILA, Philippines — Groups composed of the victims of human rights abuses during martial law and their relatives marked the 103rd birth anniversary of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos with a rally at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City yesterday.

The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) and the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) specifically protested the House of Representatives’ passage of a bill declaring Sept. 11 of every year as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte in commemoration of Marcos’ birthday.

In a statement, SELDA said Marcos’ birth date “reminds us of the countless injustices and atrocities that he and his cronies had committed against the country – brutal, horrendous and inhuman treatment that can only be done by butchers and those drunk with power (and) continues to haunt us to this day.”

The group said no amount of “historical revisionism” by the Duterte administration can “deodorize” Marcos’ record.

CARMMA alleged that the passage of the House bill is part of a concerted effort to “whitewash our nation’s history” in preparation for the Marcoses’ return to power.

The group condemned the administration and most of the lawmakers in the Senate and House for “foisting on the people the lie that Marcos is a hero.”