EDITORIAL - Martial law 50 years on

While it was mentioned as the topic of our pooled editorial for the opening of Cebu’s 30th Press Freedom Week last Monday, allow us to revisit the topic of Philippine martial law today, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary the order was signed.

The Philippine martial law period, from 1972 to 1981, remains one of the darkest times in Philippine history. Today it is also the most controversial and even muddled, since powerful forces are trying to change the narrative and sanitize the past.

Before that, let us clarify something. Martial law, per se, is not bad. Look at any constitution in any country in the world, even those of developed ones, and you will find provisions that allow for the government to suspend certain rights and privileges and forcibly carry out certain draconian actions --but only when faced with conditions that threaten the government or the very existence of the state.

But was the 1972 declaration even necessary? The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father of the current president, claimed he declared martial law to counter the rising threat of communist insurgency, citing the attempted ambush of one of his key aides. However, that key aide later said the ambush was faked to justify the declaration. Although it is also worth mention that that key aide later retracted that admission for whatever reason he saw fit.

Be that as it may, acts were committed during martial law that should not have been. People --especially those who were critical of the government-- were jailed without charges, some had their assets seized, while others were forced to sign over their businesses to cronies of the administration. But when we think about it those who lost only their freedoms, businesses, or fortunes were actually the lucky ones; many were just snatched off the streets or from their homes in front of loved ones, never to be seen again, even as corpses.

We keep saying that the sins of the father are not necessarily the sins of the son. However, we also keep on insisting that because these sins were committed in that family’s name, the son --again, now our current president-- has some burden to share in it.

We will also keep saying that unless the son acknowledges the truth of the past, the truth about this father, and the ugly, brutal, and violent things done in their name during martial law, we can never really make peace with this painful period in Philippine history.