21/09/2025
๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ.
As we mark its 53rd anniversary, the call to remember is more urgent than ever. As future teachers, we must challenge the revisionist narratives that seek to whitewash history and glorify a period of profound suffering. We must teach the next generation the brutal truths of martial lawโ not from a textbook, but from the voices of the victims who endured it. We must ensure that the phrase "never again" is not just a slogan, but a living principle that guides our actions.
Let us honor the heroes by protecting the very democracy they fought and died for, and let us vow, in one united voice, to ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ, and ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฉ.
โข ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โข
๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Corruption, tyranny, and lawlessness. Three words fit to describe the state of the country under the regime of Former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the 10th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Proclamation No. 1081 and September 21, 1972, got interconnected when the former president decided to impose martial law to the entire Philippine Archipelago. Little did everyone know how bloody this would all turn out. What some say was the โgolden ageโ of the Philippines, history, with its unforgiving gaze, reveals a different truthโ it was the first step in a tyrannical takeover that would last for over a decade. ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.
This anniversary is not just a date on a calendar, it is a reminder of what was lost and a defiant vow to never again allow a shadow of tyranny to fall upon our land. Martial law was a time when freedom itself was criminalized.
The stroke of a pen did not just suspend the writ of habeas corpus, it suspended the rights of every citizen. Media outlets were seized, and the voices that dared to speak truth to power were silenced. Journalists were arrested, political opponents were imprisoned without charge, and student activists disappeared, their only crime being their unwavering belief in a free Philippines. This was the era of the "conjugal dictatorship," a kleptocracy where the Marcos family and their croni et es plundered the national coffers, amassing billions in ill-gotten wealth while the Filipino masses sank deeper into poverty.
Yet, from this crucible time of despair emerged a generation of heroes. They were the ordinary citizens who became extraordinary in the face of injusticeโthe students who defied the truncheons, the farmers who stood their ground, the journalists who wrote in secret, and the human rights advocates who tirelessly documented every abuse.
The true story of martial law is not just about the atrocities committed by the regime, but about the indomitable spirit of the Filipino people who resisted it. Their courage, their resilience, and their sacrifice culminated in the People Power Revolution of 1986, a "bloodless" revolution that sent a dictator into exile and returned the Philippines to its rightful place as a democracy.
As we mark its 53rd anniversary, the call to remember is more urgent than ever. As future teachers, we must challenge the revisionist narratives that seek to whitewash history and glorify a period of profound suffering. We must teach the next generation the brutal truths of martial lawโ not from a textbook, but from the voices of the victims who endured it. We must ensure that the phrase "never again" is not just a slogan, but a living principle that guides our actions.
The wounds of martial law may have faded, but the scars remain, a permanent reminder that freedom is not free, and the price of vigilance is eternal. Let us honor the heroes by protecting the very democracy they fought and died for, and let us vow, in one united voice, to ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ, and ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฉ.
Layout by Austine Payonan
Words of Cyrus William Ilustre
๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
