Accountability to end HR violations impunity

Today marks the 52nd year since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law across the country. The ensuing period in our history, spanning more than 14 years, was marked by a wide range of crimes and abuses which left a deep imprint on Philippine society.

As I noted in this space last week, the shameful record, as compiled by Amnesty International, includes 70,000 document cases of individuals who were imprisoned, mostly without arrest warrants and charges; about half of those taken into custody, 34,000 individuals were tortured in military “safehouses” and detention centers and 3,240 others were extrajudicially killed.

I was one of those who spent long years behind bars. Brutal physical and psychological torture was inflicted upon my body and mind. I survived by staying silent – as did others who refused to submit to the demands of our torturers.

My nine-year detention saw me change, from a mild-mannered, studious newspaper reporter, into a spokesperson for my fellow political prisoners. At the Bicutan Rehabilitation Center, we organized ourselves and articulated our concerns and strong opposition to the dictatorship and the military. We carried out several hunger strikes that led to the release, batch by batch, of detainees for humanitarian reasons. There were other concerted actions – in Metro Manila and throughout the country – carried out by other activists similarly jailed for political reasons. Escapes were meticulously planned – and successful (including my own).

The initial shock of Marcos’ one-man rule stifled dissent for a while, but it didn’t take long for the people’s protests to come out into the open. The youth from across sectors delivered: students, community organizers, young priests, nuns and members of their church. The dam had broken, and the surging anti-dictatorship movement brought us to EDSA in 1986.

Today, as I look back to those dangerous years, what I choose to remember is the warm welcome and support from family and friends, old and new, who understood and encouraged the underground resistance movement even though they could not fully take part in it.

Under various disguises I was able to move around – even drove borrowed cars. I kept in touch with “burgis” friends who shared information and the latest political rumors. I am also proud to acknowledge that I helped set up underground publications that carried news and opinions that could not be published in the controlled mass media. An underground news service, Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas, was sustained by one group after another.

The struggle continues. A unity statement, drawn up by a September 21 Committee, signed by over 40 organizations and some individuals including myself, has issued the following calls on the occasion of today’s anniversary:

“End the repression! Hold the Marcoses and Dutertes accountable for reviving the dark legacy of martial law!”

The statement expresses “outrage over the persistent violations of human rights, civil liberties and International Humanitarian Law” under the current regime of the dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“We not only see martial law era programs and policies rehashed, such as Masagana 99, the nutribun, the Bagong Lipunan hymn. Worse, we see how impunity persists with deplorable human rights violations – especially enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and indiscriminate bombings of communities – attributable to military, paramilitary, police and shadowy death squads.”

The statement decries “the continued weaponization of the law through trumped-up charges… dehumanization of illegal drug users and small-time peddlers… vilification of critics, dissenters, human rights defenders, social activists and development workers through red-tagging; demonization of revolutionaries as ‘terrorists,’ thus blocking the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations as a means of addressing the roots of armed conflict; the use of ‘tokhang’ tactics to instill fear, harass and cow urban communities to submission; suppressing access to information and using censorship to cover up violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

Holding the Dutertes responsible for bringing the Marcoses back in power, the statement further charges:

“Hardly anyone is held accountable for these acts of tyranny despite changes of administration… Impunity persists, with the complicity of the political and economic elite backed by the US government. Through such highly-funded fascist creations as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), legal abominations such as the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) and bloated military and police budgets, the people’s quest for democracy, social justice, human rights and peace is being thwarted as it was during martial law.

“First, we call on our people to resist this state of repression. Let us exercise the full range of our rights and freedoms as guaranteed under the Constitution and various international covenants. Let us demand an end to tyranny and state terror.

“Let us demand accountability first of all from President Marcos Jr. for upholding his father’s fascist legacy while deceptively posing as an advocate of human rights in the international stage. Marcos Jr. should abolish Duterte’s notorious and blood-soaked NTF-ELCAC and provide assistance to the International Criminal Court in its effort to prosecute Duterte for his crimes.

“Second, we demand accountability from Rodrigo Duterte and his accomplices for causing the deaths of tens of thousands in his fake drug war, for grievous violations of HR and IHL unleashed in the name of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism; for the passage of the ATL; for establishing the corrupt and abusive NTF-ELCAC and for sabotaging and scuttling the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. Most of all, the Dutertes should be held accountable for paving the way for the Marcos restoration.

“It has been 52 years since that fateful day of Sept. 21, 1972. Yet the struggle for justice and democracy is as urgent as ever. Tuloy ang laban!”

Today, I join a protest action at Liwasang Bonifacio culminating in a march to Mendiola. Other mass actions have been planned to take place in many places all over the country.

We have learned priceless lessons from our collective struggle to assert and defend democratic freedoms. A legacy of the Filipino’s resistance to the Marcos dictatorship that should serve us to advance our interests as a sovereign, free and peaceful nation.