Never forget
September 21, 1972-President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared
Martial Law by virtue of Proclamation 1081.
Proving the truth of F. Sionil Jose's theory that the Filipino
people have amnesia, I would have forgotten the date if not for the column
Pinoy Kasi by UP sociologist Michael Tan on
Inquirer.
Tan wrote that at UP Diliman they conducted an open truth
telling attended by academics, artists and writers who lived through that
harrowing episode of Philippine History. They told of their own experiences,
likewise the audiences who were mostly college students aged 20 and below
shared stories they learned from family members about Martial Law.
Again, it was proven that people are forgetting Martial Law and
are now about to deposit it to the dusty annals of history which no one ever
dares to touch, let alone look.
And I asked myself, what do I know of Martial Law? What do I
recall from my family's brown-out story telling sessions? What do I recall from
my history classes that I most often sleep through anyway?
My grandfather recently said he was in San Carlos when
Proclamation 1081 fell from heaven that was Malacañan through the mouth of the
god, Marcos. And he added that, yes, there were military troops everywhere.
From that point, I recalled that he used to tell me of their
worry every time my mother would have nocturnal asthma attacks during those
times because it was difficult to convince the military that they needed to go
out for a medical emergency. Even during an emergency, people moved with
measured steps.
How many shallow, wheezing breaths did mother have to draw in
front of armed men to prove her case before she was allowed to be rushed to the
hospital?
I also recall Tito Caloy, the husband of my landlady back in
college, telling me over a shot of whiskey that Martial Law era wasn't all too
bad. He believed it was a time when there was real discipline, when robbers and
thieves dared not ply through Iloilo streets. He opined that it was the rod
needed to discipline a people astray in lawlessness and even explored the
thought that it's the same rod we need now.
Little did I know that many share Tito Caloy's musing. Tan
wrote that the idea is in fact becoming popular but he calls it a
"distortion of history."
I cannot even put Tito Caloy, who treated me and my roommate as
his own daughters, and Michael Tan, whose column I read regulary, on a mental
boxing ring to face off with each other. But I do recall the harrowing file
photos of those who experienced the terror that was Martial Law. And I conclude
that I wouldn't want to experience those nights that didn't seem to end for me
to be able to judge between the two men's ideas.
For the new generations driven by Facebook and fueled by
Tweets, Martial Law may now be a mere date, a bullet on a history class
outline. But it is important to NEVER FORGET that the freedom to post status
and tweet now is without if our elders didn't fight for dictatorship to end.
No comments:
Post a Comment