Martial law retold to millennials: ‘I was a rape victim, a survivor’
In the midst of preparations for Thursday’s mass actions marking the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, several survivors of the atrocities under the Marcos regime shared their stories with millennials gathered at Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a memorial complex in Quezon City honoring the heroes and martyrs who defied the dictatorship.
One of the survivors, 72-yearold Hilda Narciso, spoke almost casually about her ordeal in the 1970s at the program organized by human rights groups led by Balay Rehabilitation Center, in partnership with various schools.
“Many died during martial law, many were raped,” Narciso said. “I was a rape victim and I am a survivor.”
Recalling a previous talk with young people who seemed clueless about the horrors under the strongman rule of Ferdinand Marcos, Narciso said a common impression among them was that Filipinos at that time were “silent and disciplined.”
‘Reading from trolls’
She said that was expected because of what the youths have been “reading from trolls.”
“They said martial law was good. They said there were many infrastructure. They said the people at that time were quiet, disciplined,” Narciso said.
“‘ Sige nga (Well, then),’ I told them, ‘ prove that the people were silent and disciplined. Then why did we have Edsa People Power?’” she said in Filipino. “There was a long process before the people were awakened.”
“Why were people silent? That was rage. That was fear. Actually that was fear. Do you feel it now? It’s coming back. So few in government are speaking out. That’s fear. They are afraid to speak out or else they will be targeted or killed,” Narciso said.
When the dictatorship continued to suppress dissent, people eventually felt they had enough and fear gave way to anger, she said.
“As that fear burst out, we had no other choice but to fight,” she said.
“Silence led to rage. There was unabated cooperation. Even the military joined in. There was unity for the country and the majority of the people,” Narciso said of the peaceful uprising that toppled Marcos in 1986.
Encounter
The “encounter” between millennials and martial law survivors was part of the remembering and sharing activity called “Martial Law Noon … at Ngayon? A Millennial Throwback.”
Members of Balay Youth Learners and students from Miriam College and University of the Philippines Diliman participated in the early morning event.
Levy Balgos dela Cruz, another torture victim during martial law, said there was a long list of promising young people who were killed in the prime of their lives during the dictatorship.
Some were injected with truth serum to coerce a confession; one was buried alive; others were dumped in Manila Bay, he said, enumerating names of activists who were killed.
He told the young audience to “never forget” the dictatorship and to say, “Never again to martial law.”
Focus group discussions
“It’s hard to forget if the wound has not healed. With the passage of time, the surface may have scarred, but the wound inside remains fresh. Especially this time when there is a creeping, chilling threat of tyranny that is prevailing in our country,” Dela Cruz said.
After the brief talk of Nar- ciso and Dela Cruz, their millennial audience were divided into five focus groups, each with a martial law survivor with whom they had a more intimate exchange.
They listened in rapt attention to their stories of torture, rape and abuse.
In one group, a boy in his teens asked a female activist: “What was the most traumatic part?”
The woman, who could pass for his grandmother, replied: “It wasn’t really physical torture. It was the psychological torture.”
After the short program at the auditorium and the focus group discussions, the students posed for pictures at the Wall of Remembrance carrying large cardboard cutouts of “angry” emojis.