Labor groups will be mounting demonstrations and other activities in Metro Manila to commemorate the “dark” legacy of the 50th anniversary of martial law under former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. on Wednesday.
Partido Manggagawa (PM) said it will be joining other labor groups rally at the grounds of the Commission on Human Rights at 9:00 am before marching in the afternoon to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani.
Last Tuesday, the labor group already held a candle-lighting activity at the Boy Scout rotunda in Timog Ave., Quezon City “to remember the sacrifices and struggles of workers and other sectors” during the Marcos dictatorship.”
We call on our kababayans to hold candle-lighting activities in our homes and communities tomorrow (Sept. 21) to shine a light on the darkness of authoritarianism and revisionism,” PM secretary-general Judy Ann Miranda said in a statement.
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) will also be organizing its own protest and a mobile exhibit archiving the labor movement in Tondo Manila before going to the University of the Philippines Dilliman.
“Labor leaders who fought during Martial Law will lead the program and highlight the crucial role that workers played in the fall of the Marcos dictatorship,” KMU said.
Dark period
PM stressed the importance of remembering the atrocities committed during martial law amid the alleged recent efforts to “revise” the public perception of the said period.
“Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was not a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity,” Miranda said.
She noted only the Marcoses benefitted during martial law.
“Plunder of the public treasury, theft of debt-financed development projects and crony control of key industries indeed resulted in a golden age for the Marcoses,” Miranda said.
Marcos Sr. issued Proclamation No. 1081, which placed the country under martial law on Sept. 21, 1972. The issuance was formally lifted in Jan. 17, 1981.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes