EDITORIAL – Fr. Romano and martial law

That Ferdinand Marcos will forever be associated with martial law is best demonstrated by the fact that most accounts today of the disappearance of Fr. Rudy Romano always refer to the Redemptorist priest as a victim of martial law.

Here are some facts: Martial law was declared by Marcos on September 21, 1972. It was not until January 17, 1981 that he lifted it. Despite its lifting, however, Marcos continued to rule. And so did the opposition to his rule.

Fr. Romano was among those who "continued" opposing Marcos. He helped organize protest actions against the strongman. While martial law was no longer in effect at the time, most public rallies were still banned and protesters had to secure permits from the police for them to do so.

Many of these demonstrations ended in violence. Some of them were organized by multisectoral groups. Others by politicians. Cebu became the hotbed of the political opposition and the first open public political rallies against Marcos were held here as so-called "freedom marches."

Many in the political opposition, both from Cebu and from elsewhere in the country, converged here as it was probably "safer" to demonstrate here against Marcos than if they did it in Manila. Some of the political stars that emerged from these "freedom marches" cut their teeth here, so to speak.

The rallies that Fr. Romano organized differentiated themselves from the political ones by their lack of bombast. They were differentiated as well by another distinction. Mostly made up of the poor, forces of the state felt less compunction to quell them. Political demos on the other hand drew far greater media attention.

The political rallies also had a much clearer intent in the eyes of the police. While they all sought the ouster of Marcos, nothing in them suggested anything outside the political realm. Rallies of Fr. Romano, in that they involved the poor, were seen by state forces with greater ideological connotation and color.

And that was why, on July 11, 1985 -- or four years after martial law -- Fr. Romano was kidnapped by military agents, never to be seen again to this day. And so, technically, it is wrong to say Fr. Romano was a victim of martial law. Contextually, however, it was the martial law mentality that did him in.