LABAN remembered

Every September, I like to recall the stories of those who struggled, in different ways, to restore democracy and human rights in this country during the martial law era. True, martial law produced one of the worst tyrants in history, but it also produced heroes, many of whom have been forgotten as our nation faces new challenges.

In the past, I have written about my own personal experiences and those I met during that period. This year, I thought that I would ask my readers to remember the martial law years through the life experiences of other people. This can best be done by reading the real life stories of those who lived and struggled through those terrible years.

When I write about those books, it would necessarily be from the perspective of the personal experiences of one who lived through those years. However, aside from myself, I asked my son Roel, a writer who took up Literature and Creative Writing in De La Salle University, to share his own thoughts. Here, in his own words, is what he wrote after reading one of the books:

“I’ve always thought I was luckier than most of my generation, or my circle of friends at least, in terms of being taught the real implications and horrors of the martial law years, even if I was born three years after martial law was declared and had only a vague sense of what was transpiring, up to Ninoy Aquino’s assassination and the 1986 EDSA revolution.

Aided by inheriting at least half of my father’s passion for history and nationalism as well as having the same hunger for literature as my mother, I read as much of our nation’s history as I could, especially about that period, with books like Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage by Pete Lacaba, Killing Time in a Warm Place by Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.,  Dekada ‘70 by Lualhati Bautista, State of War by Ninotchka Rosca, The Jupiter Effect by Katrina Tuvera, among others.

There was also a thin but organic and palpable personal connection as I pieced together overheard snippets of conversations of how an uncle was one of the first rounded up when martial law was declared, how his twin brother was among those with Jimi FlorCruz exiled in China, how my father was a student leader who spent a lot of after dinner time with me recounting tales of street protests, or how even my mother, who in 1983 was the first journalist to interview Cory Aquino upon her return to the country, did her own part in aiding close friends in hiding that I really can’t elaborate on, except that it was coated with romance, courage and scandal.

But only after reading a book like Not On Our Watch edited by Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon, a collection of 13 essays/articles by heroic people who struggled, suffered and persevered firsthand during those horrific years, did I realize there are countless other stories that need to be told again and again, and that there should be no limits to the Great Remembering, as Conrad de Quiros put it in his introduction; that even as others from my generation who either know as much as I do or none at all slip back into the comforts of pop culture, the razzle dazzle of technology and other daily preoccupations, we must never, ever forget. Because the stories in this book are not mere anecdotes or attempts at nostalgia, but a brave and gut wrenching reliving of very painful memories. Not for glory nor accolades, but in addition to serving as an accounting of history and a brazen warning to those who would dare commit an abuse of power that would come even as close as an iota to what I feel was the biggest crime committed by a Filipino against his fellow countrymen, to also pose a challenge: When push comes to shove, will my generation be on watch as well?”

There were two parallel struggles against martial law. One was the ideological and armed struggle of the Left. The other was characterized as a political, moral and predominantly non-violent struggle that eventual became the People Power Movement.

The symbolic color of the Left was Red and its battle cry was “Ibagsak!” The People Power movement had Yellow and its slogan was “LABAN!”

The People Power Movement did not begin in EDSA. Its seed was planted when martial law was proclaimed and thousands of people were arrested. Its roots were in the defiant stand of people like Ninoy Aquino and in the then seemingly impossible electoral struggles.

There are three books I would recommend. The first is “Inspiration and Images: Selected Speeches and Paintings” by Corazon Aquino. In her speeches, she makes several references to that period. For example in one speech on the martial law anniversary she said:

“Twenty-five years ago, the President of the Philippines blew out the light of democracy and covered the nation in darkness. Congress was padlocked and the Supreme Court put under the gun. Journalists were picked, newspapers were shut down. The public was blindfolded and gagged, the country was robbed. Robbed for 14 years without let-up or hindrance, without limit or shame.”

The book “LABAN  HIS Story” is a vivid narrative in 25 chapters of the evolution of the “LABAN” movement and the participation of the Aquino and Cojuangco families. The name LABAN originated in the 1978 elections and there are several chapters about this episode written by Nick Joaquin like LABAN On the Campaign Trail and Noise Barrage.

There is a very touching and slightly humorous chapter written by Corazon Aquino entitled “Kris, The Youngest Campaigner” and a must read chapter written by Peping Cojuangco, “The Genesis of LABAN.”

In the 1980 local elections only three opposition candidates were able to win against the Marcos forces: Jose Laurel V who won as governor of Batangas, Homobono Adaza as governor of Misamis Oriental, and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. as mayor of Cagayan de Oro.

“Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story” by Aquilino Pimentel Jr. covers 15 years of his extremely difficult life after the 1972 declaration of martial law but ends with his triumphant election as senator. It is a very well documented story of one of the greatest heroes in the struggle against the dictatorship.

There are other books and novels I would like to recommend which will have to wait for a future column. Books and stories serve many purposes — to stir up the imagination, transport us to a different time or make us relive emotions of others. These books on Martial Law serve an additional, essential purpose: To ensure that dark period in our history is never forgotten, lest it be repeated in one form or another.  

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