FATHER Ranhilio Aquino, dean of San Beda Graduate School, has a different take on President Marcos’ martial law. In a Facebook post, the erudite jurist said that martial law is ordained by our constitution. He argues: “martial law is always a power the President may exercise, and should exercise.” This, according to him, is specifically applicable “when the survival of the Republic depends on its judicious imposition and wise management.”
Because of the above reason, Aquino is convinced that there is no need to join the Never Again Movement. However, it is the bigger backdrop of Aquino’s stand that is more interesting. Other than the legal argument in favor of martial law, he also portrays history in an apparently different way.
Contrary to the horrible descriptions that we have heard about the dictatorship, Fr. Aquino retrieves from his memory something else. One can say that either he has saved a different file in his memory or his file is corrupted or damaged. As he says in his recollection: “Following Proclamation 1081, many heaved a sigh of relief. There was order. The streets of Manila were free of the noisy and raucous hordes. There was no fear about walking about in the evening because everyone knew that misbehavior could have dire consequences.”
The eminent jurist extends his interpretation to the issue of oligarchy. He also believes that Marcos did the right thing with martial law as it clipped the power of oligarchs. In his own words, “there was also the welcome news that government had "nationalized" key utilities controlled by the oligarchs of the day. Eventually, of course, martial law would spawn its own circle of oligarchs.”
Finally, Fr. Aquino exposed the very substance of his perspective: his admiration for Marcos. Again, it is best to cite him in length:
“Marcos repeatedly challenged those who opposed Martial Law to public debates. None engaged him. I still remember clearly that the leaders of the opposition at that time were invited as a group to debate with Marcos, but the seats remained empty. My father, ever the wise man, explained that it was not because they feared the debate but because they did not want Marcos to appear like some invincible hero. There was, indeed, the possibility that he could best them all!”
I said in my last column that some Filipinos are primarily to be blamed for the stay of the Marcoses in power. The foregoing perspective perfectly characterizes the kind of Filipinos I am talking about. They are not ignorant, they do not belong to the millennial category, they are not also the ones who would say that we should forgive and thus forget Marcos. Rather, they are people who have high dreams and ambitions of greatness. Precisely, they see themselves in the late Ferdinand Marcos.
Aquino’s perspective deserves to be respected. However it is something which I cannot accept. I am not disagreeing whatever recollection he has of specific facts. It must be true that there was silence and order in his hometown when martial law was declared. Admittedly, I heard the same even from my relatives. Facts however do not mean anything if there is no overarching interpretive design. Whatever design or blueprint of reality Aquino has in mind – is for me what is not only crucial but also questionable.
Three weeks ago, a Redemptorist visited our school, Karl Gaspar. Like Aquino, Gaspar is a religious. He too shared the same concern for the people. Having been a brother for more than three decades, no one can say that Gaspar’s credibility and integrity is lesser than Aquino’s.
Fortunately, Gaspar remembers martial law differently. For one, he was arrested and detained three times. He did not describe things as an academic. He did not see martial law merely as a legal issue. Unlike Aquino, Gaspar saw the martial law years as the corruption of absolute power.
So is Aquino right and Gaspar wrong or vice-versa? I can only end by saying that our reading of history depends on our location in society. It also depends on how we read the series of events and the end towards which, for us, they should move. Above all, I still believe that our view of things depend on how we view our own life: the questions how do I see myself, and who am I to others. To the privileged martial law was a blessing. To the oppressed and those whose families disappeared, it was the greatest plague this country even has.
Indeed, we are not yet done. We still have to say our loudest NEVER AGAIN!