THERE have been two threads shaping the narrative of September 21 that has heightened during the two years of the Duterte presidency.
The first thread had two messages: Move on, and a revisionist line that said this period under Marcos was the golden years of the Philippines marked by infrastructure and peace and order.
The second thread is the opposite of the first thread: One that is told by survivors of 14 years of Martial Law, and the People Power movement after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination. Theirs is a story of pain, of darkness literally being put into dark jail cells where they are tortured, or darkness in that people live in hard times without much freedom.
I once hear the first thread of stories when I was growing up, influenced by my middle class background. After EDSA, I went to college, joined the College Editors Guild, and hear the second thread of stories, from my teachers, from Martial Law survivors. I still hear these stories. And I believe these memories need to be told and retold.
History, international courts, testimonies, investigations and human rights commissions said the Marcos regime was corrupt and violated human rights through torture, arrests and killings of civilians and critics of his regime. That today, millions are receiving human rights claims for the damages wrought on them physically, which they will bear for a lifetime.
Yet here we are, still debating. It is surprising and worrisome that people are still believing about the “golden years”, which is most likely propped by the keyboard warriors employed by the Marcoses to re-angle, to revise, to retell the story of Martial Law is a power struggle between them and the Aquinos.
Why people fall for their story reflects a weakness, not just on our tendency for “historical amnesia,” but also for institutions such as schools, media and others to instill on the minds of the people of the dark days of our history.
But it further reflects the weakness of the so-called restored democracy, or the system of governance, in which the way to correct the crimes of the past is to punish the guilty and restore what is stolen. Until now, the Marcoses remain in power, and worse, we are still paying billions of pesos through our taxes the ill-gotten wealth this family owed to international banks.
Yet here we are, remembering the Martial Law of Marcos in a time of another Martial Law. If we go back to the stories of the survivors, they will say that this period may show uncertainty. But what kept them on are things that will help us through these times. These things such as courage, truth and solidarity will show that this will dispel this climate of fear and fakery. This we should never forget.