LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY........................................................................................... REPOST:::: by ramrodrigo on Sat, 02/25/2012 – 06:05 I submit that martial law per se could be an effective government tool in restoring order, if used appropriately and only in extreme situations. Unfortunately, your father used it to further his dark personal agenda in silencing the political opposition, suppressing the media as well as freedom of speech, trampling on the civil liberties of the citizenry, and short-circuiting the due process of democratic law. Your father may have thought its imposition in the 70’s necessary to control vagrant destruction of life and property that was at fever pitch in Manila and internationally at that time, as you had explained. However, marital law is a very dangerous tool and your father used it for the wrong reasons: to stay in power and to instill fear in those that opposed him – this was way beyond its intended purpose of restoring civil order. Eventually, it was the taste of absolute power that corrupted him, his heart and mind, absolutely. Firstly, I feel sorry for you, Bongbong, it has been decades since you father’s fall from power and still you are in complete denial of his grave misdeeds and its repercussions to our nation. You look at a dark part of our country’s history with calloused eyes as if it would shield you from the guilt and shame of its grim reality. In fairness, your father actually could have been a great man. He possessed astute intellect and cunning political prowess, talents that could have proven effective in helping our motherland from the economic and political turmoil we were in (and continue to be in). Sadly, he chose to use this to repress the voice and spirit of the Filipino, amass ill-gotten wealth through unbridled corruption and perpetuate himself as a despot for life. Contrary to your claim, it was during your father’s administration that the Philippines made a drastic decline in the Asian rankings. Moreso, your father, without remorse, killed freedom and the democratic process in the Philippines by dictatorial actions such as: instilling Proclamation No. 1081 (Martial Law) which effectively made him the accuser, judge and executioner in one, and Proclamation No. 6 which gave him absolute power above all laws of the land; suspending the writ of habeas corpus or the right for the accused to face/defend themselves against their accuser; suppressing the right to peaceful assembly and demonstration, including labor strikes (particularly against crony-led corporations); controlling press freedom; and jailing, torturing and murdering thousands who spoke up against his regime. All these are against the principles of democracy and were implemented by your father to fortify his position in power. Make no mistake, your father committed terrible crimes and injustices to our countrymen and you were a part of it, whether you admit it or not. You enjoyed the luxuries that came with the immense wealth and power that your family had garnered at the expense of the Filipino people. Secondly, it is hypocrisy on your part to even try to justify your father’s anti-democratic views and actions. You are now a part of the system which he himself maliciously dismantled back then to serve his despotic whims, yet now you live under the freedom and democracy that he blatantly deprived from millions of our countryman and which cost the lives of tens of thousands to restore. Didn’t he abolish the senate (and house) to put up a unicameral legislative assembly headed by a Prime Minister hand-picked by on one else but himself? Didn’t he manipulate elections and press coverage via goons, guns and gold to serve his party’s purpose? (This practice was widely practiced during the 20 Marcos years and sadly and pathetically remains ingrained in the Filipino psychography until today.) At present, we are far from being the promised land that we ought to be, yet I see a glimmer of hope every time I see a former president having a day in court, facing his/her accusers for alleged crimes. There is no doubt in my mind that your father would suffer the same fate had he done those things in present day, and we would see your father wearing a neckbrace to court. I still have faith in our people, and believe that we will rise from the ashes amidst these growing pains that had been forthcoming but suppressed by a tyrannical regime so many decades ago. EDSA-1 may have not done much to save our people from economic and political woes, and it may not have solved the problems of poverty, wealth distribution, employment, education, hunger, crime, insurgency, corruption and the lack of basic services, but it has at the very least, dismantled your father’s tyrannical grip on the nation and paved the way towards a democratic healing and the restoration of basic freedoms. It has given us a foundation to work on. I agree with you that blame should no longer be the focal point here. That ‘game’ should have ended a long time ago. My intention here is to set the record straight so that those who come after us can learn the lessons of history based on what really happened. Thousands risked and paid with their lives to save us from your father’s rule. It would be utterly unjust to demean their sacrifices by trying to justify martial law. It would be in your best interest now, as a Senator of the realm, to extend the respect and honor they deserve for the sacrifices they have made for our country. It is through rigorous honesty and the acceptance of the truth that we are able to see the light and move on. I pray that you, in your conscience, are able to see this.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 11:38:22 +0000
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