0213D: 30 Years Free of the Marcoses?


Today is the 30th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew the dictator Ferdinand Marcos after his over twenty year reign as the leader of the Philippines. Over 70,000 people were arrested, 34,000 tortured, 3,240 people salvaged and at least 398 people missing. 75,730 people filed cases for human rights violations during the Martial Law years. Just some of the many numbers that we need to remember when we look back at Martial Law and the Marcos regime as a whole.

However Imelda Marcos, wife of Ferdinand Marcos, is a sitting Congresswoman and is running for her third term as the representative of the second district of Ilocos Norte. Her son Bongbong Marcos is a senator and is running for Vice President in the coming 2016 Elections. Imee Marcos is the Governor of Ilocos Norte and is also running for her third term. Clearly memories are fuzzy and the Marcos family remains very much in power.

There's a strong social media movement now to remind younger generations of the horrors of Martial Law and the injustices and corruption of the Marcos years. But it may be a little late given the fact it's in response to another social media movement to praise Marcos for all that he had supposedly done for the country (albeit while lining his own pockets through graft and corruption).

The Philippines is a country that is scarred and it's easy to want to just forget about that trauma and move on to other things. But we can't forget and we owe it to ourselves to educate future generations so that we don't fall into the trap of dictatorial rule ever again.

At least that's the best that we can hope for at this point.

Comments