Groups hold road trip, bike tour to keep memory of Martial Law alive
MANILA, Philippines — Groups went on the road over the weekend to places in Metro Manila connected to Ferdinand Marcos' Martial Law as the Philippines prepares to mark 50 years since the declaration that curbed civil liberties and led to documented abuses was made.
The election to the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in May on a campaign of unity and of nostalgia for the so-called golden years under his father has complicated the commemoration of Martial Law and of its victims.
READ: Ever Again: Alumni of Marcos-era Kabataang Barangay hopeful for revival
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers and Tanggol Kasaysayan held a bike tour through Metro Manila, which started at the UP Diliman campus — where students put up barricades in 1971 to keep police out after a class boycott in support of striking jeepney drivers turned violent — and ended at the Chino Roces bridge near Malacañan Palace.
According to alternative news site Bulatlat, the bike tour passed through the Bantayog ng mga Bayani and the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City and the Manila Film Center, where more than a hundred workers fell and were buried in cement in a construction accident in 1981.
Akbayan Party meanwhile organized a bus and walking tour on Sunday of sites they said defined the Martial Law period.
Sharing some of the sites that the bike tour went to, the "Road Trip" Martial Law history tour was led by historian Xiao Chua and also stopped at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Coconut Palace, the Ninoy Aquino monument in Makati, the Edsa Shrine and the People Power Monument.
The tour also stopped at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which helped organize the event.
READ: Over 1,000 academics vow to protect Martial Law history from revision
"This is a profound journey for the truth, for the memory of those who gave their lives for the freedoms we have now, and the lessons that this dark past should teach us," Akbayan spokesperson RJ Naguit said in a statement.
"As we mark the 50th year since the declaration of Martial Law, we remind everyone that history is not a random collection of names, dates and places. It is about the struggle, and the search for the truth behind the past. It is a living guide for the future of our youth and our nation," also said.
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