anakbayanla:

Today is the 39th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972, which continued until the People Power uprising in 1986.  Throughout the 14-year period of fascist dictatorship and absolute military rule, thousands were killed, abducted, imprisoned, and tortured by the US-backed Marcos regime.  The Filipino people had their basic rights taken away from them and lived in a police state under constant surveillance and control.

Marcos was a corrupt puppet of the United States that exponentially increased his and his cronies’ personal wealth by stealing from the Filipino people and selling out our country’s natural resources and labor to foreign business.

But despite his vicious repression of the people, the national democratic movement grew by leaps and bounds, proving that even the most oppressive dictatorship cannot stop the people’s just and historic mission to achieve genuine freedom and democracy in the Philippines.  People’s organizations resisted and continued to organize throughout the entire period of Martial Law, while the revolutionary movement in the countryside grew steadily. Even after the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, the movement continues to grow until this day.

Full of arrogance and self-indulgence, Marcos created a Mt. Rushmore-like statue of his face in Baguio in the mid-1980s, to be accompanied by the building of a park and golf course. The Ibalois tribe was displaced by the building of this statue and had long called for it’s destruction.  In response to the people’s call for justice, the revolutionary New People’s Army blasted the statue in 2002, destroying the face of Marcos.

Yet, even after the Marcos was overthrown and the illusions of liberal democracy were restored, each president that followed has still been a subservient puppet of the US and advocated only for the interests of big business and big landlords.  In essence, it is not a true democracy.  It is merely a democracy for the bourgeoisie, the wealthy ruling class that only makes up 1% of the population.

This is reminder to us all that we must persevere to rid the country of the inherently corrupt and unjust ruling system and replace it with a system that is run by the working people and truly serves the interests of the majority.

Isulong ang pambansang demokratikong pakikibaka hanggang sa tagumpay!
Advance the national democratic struggle until victory! 
Never again to Martial Law!