We have just commemorated the 49th anniversary of Martial Law and since it has been almost half a century ago, its time to reflect about it. I’m a Martial Law baby born at the tail end of the era before it was lifted in January 1981 which coincided with Pope John Paul II’s first visit to the country, Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th President of the US and the birth of the first Millennials. Although Martial Law was officially lifted in the early 80s but most of the laws that were enforced during that period including the extrajudicial killings and torture were continued until February 1986 when Marcos was ousted. Being a young child, I didn’t have direct experience of the horrors of Martial Law and neither were my parents, relatives and even my neighbors since none of them were involved in activism against the government. I was too young to be affected when Marcos ordered to sack Voltes V and other robot cartoons from the airwaves since I was just a baby at the time it was cancelled in 1979. I remember chanting ‘Ang Bagong Lipunan’ song with actions during our preschool graduation rites. Apart from my elders not wanting me to be out playing at 5pm, we generally had a normal, peaceful life under Marcos regime so I had no idea that we were living under a dictatorship rule. Neither did I know that the very reason I was prevented to go out in the afternoon also had to do with Martial Law.

(Me in 1983, the same year Ninoy was assassinated)

My earliest political memory was when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated in August 1983. I was a 4 year old preschooler at that time and back then I had no idea what’s the deal about the guy in white suit lying on the floor outside an airplane craft that I saw in a video clip since at that time there were heavy media censorship and news about Ninoy’s death weren’t given a heavy airtime. But then I saw my parents and relatives very saddened and angered by Ninoy’s death but couldn’t utter much words and I felt that it was a big deal which in my innocent child’s view, was more of why? So people began protesting in streets angered at the Marcos administration over Ninoy’s death which eventually led to Pres. Marcos calling for a Snap election in late 1985. During the presidential campaign, I remember having stickers bearing the faces of Marcos-Tolentino tandem sticking them onto my toys and seeing on TV Mrs. Cory Aquino the widow of Ninoy who was picked to run for presidency in the opposition camp.

Then Snap election came and my parents and relatives voted for Cory. I remember seeing them hopeful that she would win. But then the news came that Marcos won the elections and then also news broke out that the computer operators of NAMFREL walked out after it was declared that Marcos won since in their count, it was the opposite and obviously Marcos declaration was done out of cheating and they couldn’t stand it anymore. Cory also had her protest in Luneta but the turning point was when several officers headed by Gen. Fidel Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile deflected from the Marcos government and planned to seige Malacanang but were found out by the President. Later that night, Jaime Cardinal Sin spoke out from Radio Veritas calling on the public to gather at EDSA to support the rebel troops who were in danger since there were orders from Malacanang to attack the Philippine Constabulary (now PNP Crame) where Ramos and Enrile were. Thousands of people including my teachers flocked to EDSA, we didn’t have school for a week (I was in 1st grade when EDSA happened) and personally I was happy that we had more play and TV time. Again, I had no idea what was going on that time and all I cared for was play and TV. I was at my grandmother’s house playing with my little brother and my aunt who is a bit younger than me while the adults were watching the Marcos inauguration when suddenly the news program changed to the live coverage of the millions of people gathered at EDSA with the nuns in front stopping the military tanks armed with only rosaries and Bible. It turned out that the people invaded and took over channel 4. Suddenly I got curious and watched the events unfold in our TV and later on when it was announced that Marcos and his family were taken out of Malacanang, I find my parents and relatives shouted and rejoiced flashing the Laban sign (aka Cory sign) so in turn, I also did the L sign. I remember two of my aunts wearing the yellow Cory printed shirt at that time. Until now I still having some goosebumps everytime I hear the song ‘Bayan Ko’ and ‘Handog ng Pilipino Sa Mundo’. So we were all very happy for the restored democracy of our country. Toys, video games and cartoons that were once banned under Marcos began to arrive in the country in huge waves. I was finally allowed to go to the cinemas and watch a movie I like (Captain Barbell was the very first movie that I saw in then Paramount Theatre located in front of SM North EDSA although I remember wanting to watch Bagets two years earlier but wasn’t allowed). However a few years after, our country’s state was still relatively unchanged and caused some young officers to stage a coup d’ etat against the Aquino government and on that same year, Ferdinand Marcos died in Hawaii and in the early 90s, Cory allowed the remaining Marcos family to return to the Philippines.

49 years later, what have we learned from those experiences? Sadly it seems that we haven’t improved even a little, the state of our country remains unchanged since the Martial Law. The only difference is now we can freely vent against the government without the fear of being arrested and tortured or killed. We made a bold move in February 1986 that earned us outstanding reputation internationally which inspired the East Germans to make a similar kind of revolt 3 years later when they tear down the Berlin Wall that led to the reunification of Germany as well as Eastern European countries to end the communism but the only thing we ousted was the dictatorship rule but not its effects. As of this writing, we are still paying huge debts that the Marcos government left (it was said that we will pay it until 2025), the cronyism was just replaced by the oligarchs who continue to lord over the masses. Remittances from OFWs are still our main source of income that keeps the economy afloat. Inequality and poverty are still everywhere. Graft and corruption still persists. Many politicians continue to cheat in the elections. Many parts of the country are being runned by political dynasties. Many extrajudicial killings were done by the current administration. Worst of all, the Marcoses are now back in power with Bongbong Marcos running for presidency in the upcoming 2022 elections with the elders putting the blame on the younger generations who weren’t even born yet during Martial Law and EDSA (by definition, the oldest Millennials were already alive during the waning years of Marcos and a few were brought by their parents at EDSA but the vast majority of millennials don’t have memories of EDSA). Elders criticize these young Filipinos for being pro-Marcos and devaluing EDSA People Power but with all these things happening since the fall of Marcos, can we really blame them? The elders who were adults during Martial Law and EDSA I, what have you done to this country? You had all the opportunity to improve our country’s state but what happened? The problem is we think the government is the end all-be all in terms of actions but in actuality, we all have our own part that we contribute to our country. The major one is we are the ones who vote them to office and so we need to be extra smart who to vote for and not to allow ourselves to get carried away with a few hundred pesos in exchange of our vote. Everything they do reflects our decisions and we have to do our part as well. If we only rely on the government and not doing our part then nothing good will happen and we will continue to live under the shadows of Martial Law.