Palace on martial law: Historical facts don’t lie
In retelling stories about the Marcoses and martial law, President Aquino is not sowing disunity but is simply reminding Filipinos – especially the youth – of the sacrifices countless others had to make to help the country win back its freedom, Malacañang said yesterday.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III was responding to Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’ s accusation that President Aquino was causing division in the country with the latter’s frequent dredging up of the horrors of martial law. Marcos is running for vice president in the May 9 elections.
Speaking over radio dzRB, Quezon said that during the 30th anniversary celebration of the 1986 EDSA people power revolution last Thursday, President Aquino “delivered a powerful speech about the importance of memory,” with emphasis on the contrast between “the freedoms we now enjoy” and the repression suffered by those who lived during the martial law era.
Quezon stressed Aquino’s statements on the Marcoses were adequately supported by historical facts and documented evidence.
“Like what the President said in his speech, this is not about the Aquinos versus the Marcoses; this is about the truth versus amnesia,” Quezon said.
The latest Social Weather Stations survey results, Quezon noted, indicated that 76 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with the democracy restored through the peaceful
uprising in 1986.
Despite this, “pro-Marcos revisionists still attempt to change our understanding of history.”
Marcos, in a speech during a campaign sortie in Pangasinan, accused the President of divisiveness with the latter’s frequently talking about the past and warning against the return to power of the Marcoses.
The late dictator’s widow is an Ilocos Norte congresswoman while daughter Imee is the provincial governor. Both are running for reelection in May.
The senator said what happened during the regime of his father and namesake must be left to historians and scholars to judge.
Asked whether the President’s speech could dissuade voters from electing Marcos as the country’s number two leader, Quezon responded that it was fair to say that Aquino was voicing the opinions of many of his generation who participated in the 1986 revolution.
Quezon said that while there were revisionists attempting to influence the younger generation, the EDSA anniversary commemoration paved the way for a deeper and more extensive discussion on what truly happened during the Marcos regime.
“And because of this, the young people will have enlightenment and information,” he said.
Furthermore, the Palace official said the senator should be transparent and face the reality that he and his family were still dealing with numerous ill-gotten wealth cases because of their reported abuses while in power.
Quezon said the intention of the administration was not to divide and rule as Marcos had claimed, but to “fight disinformation with facts” and differentiate right from wrong.
Never again, never forget
Citing data from various government departments and agencies, Quezon said the people must not forget the 75,730 persons who filed their claims before the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board for violations of their rights by the state during martial law.
“About 70, 000 people were detained for being enemies of the state; about 398 enforced disappearances took place between 1965 and 1986. That’s an average of more than 30 disappearances per year between 1976 and 1978 alone,” Quezon pointed out.
He added that about 34,000 people suffered from emotional and physical torture through solitary confinement, for example, as well as through beating, electric shock, rape and other forms of molestation.
“There were 3,240 victims of salvage or extrajudicial killings,” citing an average of about 50 summary executions every year between 1976 and 1978 alone.
When martial law was declared, Quezon said media outlets were shut down. These included seven major English and three Filipino dailies, one English-Filipino daily, 11 English weekly magazines, one Spanish daily, four Chinese dailies, three business publications, one news service, seven television stations, 66 community newspapers and 292 radio stations all over the country.
From a national debt of P2.4 billion in 1965, Quezon said the figure ballooned to P192.2 billion by 1985. And with P395.51 billion total national government debt by the end of 1986, Quezon said 58.63 percent of the gross domestic product was set aside to meet the country’s obligations.
He said the amount plundered during the dictatorship was unimaginable, with the Presidential Commission on Good Government having recovered so far P170.44 billion in ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
“As we approach the next national elections, let us consider our candidates wisely. Do we want a president who will lead us to another dictatorship or an uncertain future? Or do we want to be led by a competent candidate with unquestioned integrity? Once again, our nation’s fate is in our hands,” Quezon said.
In a speech in Umingan, Pangasinan, Marcos urged the public to end the culture of divisiveness and unite for a common cause, saying disunity aggravates the problems besetting the country.
“Let us elect leaders who will bring back unity,” Marcos said.
The senator also said he abhorred martial law as such would only mean the country is in a crisis. “We don’t want that to happen,” he said.