As a journalist for many years, my observance of Sept. 21 is in remembrance of that day in 1972 when Proclamation 1081 silenced the press in the Philippines.
In a sense, the event is political. Proclamation 1081, after all, was issued by a politico who wanted to extend his hold on power by silencing dissent and critics through martial law. Batas militar.
But beyond Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr.’s aspirations, the event is political also because the act of silencing the press itself profoundly affected governance.
People had no independent sources of news. Information instead flowed solely via government‑controlled channels that, by design, were not critical.
Without critical reporting, public oversight of the executive was removed, corruption and crony economic networks expanded, policy-making went unchecked and the use of state institutions – particularly the military and the police – was abused.
It’s this that I say never to when I join other martial law babies, and the rest who lived through that period, in saying: “Never again.”
However, for those who joined the coordinated mass gatherings last Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, theirs was less a remembrance of the 53rd anniversary of martial law and the silenced press and more a protest against corruption in government.
It wasn’t supposed to be political.
Rallies were staged at Luneta, there was the “Trillion Peso March” at Edsa and simultaneous rallies in other provinces. In Cebu City, there was one in Fuente, one in Colon and another one at Plaza Independencia.
Monitoring the live feeds and social media and web postings of major news organizations, two things caught my attention.
First, in Manila, masked troublemakers torched a trailer truck and a police vehicle, erected burning barricades and hurled objects at police officers in Mendiola. Then, bizarrely, they went to a budget hotel in Recto, set a fire near the entrance, and looted the building.
Were they some sort of a right-wing plant, or groupies looking for an exciting time, or rightfully indignant people whose indignation got out of control?
Second, in Cebu City this time, the very popular Rev. Fr. Ciano Ubod officiated a mass that served as a culminating event for a pro-Digong Duterte rally that called on President Bongbong Marcos to step down.
Hard as it is to connect hotel-looting and fire-bombing to a supposedly peaceful protest march against government corruption, the mental calisthenics needed for that pales in comparison to figuring out why a Catholic priest would be at a Duterte rally.
Hasn’t the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which is the closest thing to a national church leadership among Catholic clergy, consistently condemned the former president over the extrajudicial killings tied to his war on drugs?
Hasn’t it, in fact, publicly welcomed his arrest and surrender to the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a “step toward justice” and the quest for truth, reparations and the protection of human dignity?
If the organizers of the anti-corruption rally would like to ensure that the momentum against graft and towards good governance continues, they’ll have to make sure that they don’t get co-opted by other camps who, for sure, have their own agenda.
Otherwise, they become more of a tool for the same political game that got us to where we are in the first place, instead of an actual instrument for real policy change.
As regards Fr. Ciano, whatever his reasons are for being there, and whether his position clashes with the leadership of the church he is ordained into, one thing is certain: Citizen Ciano has the right to join any protest and speak in favor or in dissent of any issue.
The people’s triumph over Proclamation 1081, dated Sept. 21, 1972, ensures it. Never again.
The community of journalists in Cebu, for the last 33 years, has been celebrating this triumph through the annual Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration.
This year, organizers have lined up several events which serve as highlight for a week of reflection, celebration and forward-looking dialogue, beginning with a mass and fellowship at a local mall last Sunday.
At the University of the Philippines Cebu on Monday, broadcast journalist Emil Sumangil of GMA’s “24 Oras” engaged students and practitioners seeking to continue to navigate the world of news and information amidst shifts in platform and changing news consumer habits.
In the afternoon, two very respected local journalists, Connie Fernandez-Brojan and Mildred Galarpe, tackled evolving media platforms and their impact on social change.
Discussions and events will continue until Saturday, Sept 25, beginning with the 1st Juan L. Mercado Memorial Lecture at Seda Ayala Center.
Somber fact: Mercado was a martial law detainee.