On the Anniversary of the Martial Law Declaration

“Why don’t you move on?”

In a press briefing held last August 21, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos posed
this question, referring to the Martial Law period and the supposed feud between
her family and the Aquinos. [1]
In the face of attempts to introduce ambiguity to this dark period in our country’s
history, UP Law Karapatan ng Komunidad sa Loob ng Selda (KAKOSA) rejects all
calls to simplistically move on from Martial Law.
We take up the duty to remember the Marcos regime as one rife with human rights
violations. The Martial Law period was a time when rule of law and due process
were so callously disregarded, instead spotlighting caprice and arbitrariness in
enforcing political control. Fear was the authoritarian regime’s weapon of choice,
forcing people into acquiescence to the rule. Threats of enforced disappearances,
imprisonments, torture, and extrajudicial killing -- all sanctioned by the State --
hounded the nation.
We remember those who had to bear its atrocities. We remember Archimedes
Trajano, found dead days after daring to question the appointment of Imee Marcos
to the Kabataang Barangay. We remember Lilliosa Hilao, tortured by Constabulary
soldiers, the first student-activist to die in detention. We remember Martial Law
survivors — writers Pete Lacaba, Butch Dalisay, and Jo Ann Maglipon, whose
stories detail the barbaric treatment they endured as political prisoners.[2]
UP Law KAKOSA is committed to upholding every person’s right to live with
dignity, particularly of the prisoners. This advocacy can never be detached from
the history of the struggle for equal dignity and respect. As we commemorate the
anniversary of the Martial Law declaration, we will never forget the unjust and
inhumane treatment of detainees and prisoners during the course of Marcos’
tyranny.
We also take up the duty to bear witness. It has been more than forty years since
Marcos was overthrown, yet we are still fighting to undo the damage Martial Law
has left in its wake. We will continue to contend with impunity and historical
revisionism. The legacy of Martial Law is chilling -- in its aftermath, power is still
being bandied about as a license to silence rights and freedoms.
We thus urge government to hold accountable those complicit in past and present
human rights abuses yet remain under a cloud of impunity. We empathize with the
families of those who remain political prisoners and of the desaparecidos, and
continue to advocate for their release and for full reparation. Finally, we call on the
government to act swiftly in institutionalizing prison reform — eliminating the
abuses that our prisoners suffer each day, demanding accountability from those
who continue to perpetuate such abuses, and most importantly, valiantly
safeguarding the fundamental rights of our prisoners.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Cover Photo from: http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/01/06/Marcos-martial-
law-victims-2-B-claim-court.html
[1] Robert Vergara, Imee Marcos draws ire for 'move on'
remark,http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/08/22/imee-marcos-move-on-
draws-ire.html, 23 August 2018
[2] Lourdes Gordolan, Butch Dalisay, Ricky Lee, and other writers remember prison
life in Martial Law era, http://rogue.ph/butch-dalisay-ricky-lee-writers-
remember…/