MILITANT groups, including some survivors of the martial law regime during the Marcos administration, gathered on Sunday, February 25, in Mendiola in Manila, where they offered flowers and candles in remembrance of the thousands of human rights victims during the martial law.
Among those present in Mendiola were former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Judy Taguiwalo and former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo, who experienced first-hand the cruelty of the Marcos martial law regime.
Ocampo said those who were killed and tortured during the Marcos regime should not be forgotten because they fought so that the country may be liberated from martial law and future generations may be spared from the suffering that they had to endure.
Among the issues they tackled during a brief program in Mendiola were the government's plan to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Taguiwalo warned that this may lead to more abuses and social injustices.
"Natuldukan na natin ito noon, napatalsik na natin dahil sa People Power kaya huwag natin hayaang maulit pa. Dapat tayo mismong mga tao, ang mga mamamayan ng bansa na ito ang tumutol dito (charter change)," he said.
(We had put an end to this. We had ousted the dictator through People Power. Let us not allow martial law to happen again. The citizens of this country should oppose Charter change.)
Taguiwalo was also among the thousands of protesters who converged at the People Power Monument along Edsa (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) to mark the 32nd anniversary of the People Power Revolution, which toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
The protesters included members of Bayan, Gabriela, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa.
They denounced the proposed Charter change and called for an end to extrajudicial killings in relation to the government's war on drugs. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)