Remembering one Martial Law while living in another

34th Anniversary of Martial Law in the Philippines: Ongoing Murder Spree Against Activists Underscores a Chilling Blast from the Past

Filipinos associate September 21 with one of the darkest periods in Philippine history. On this same day in 1972, the Marcos regime imposed martial law. It took 14 years of struggle to end the dictatorship’s assault on political freedoms and democratic rights. More than three decades on, however, we find our country once more confronting authoritarian rule, with no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo undermining the democracy and rule of law Filipinos had fought for. State-sponsored terrorism is again rearing its ugly head in Philippine society.

Amnesty International says there have been at least 51 political killings in the Philippines in the first half of 2006 alone. Philippine-based human rights groups say that, in fact, since Arroyo took over the presidency 2001, the Philippines has suffered no less than 1,000 extrajudicial killings of community leaders including indigenous activists, student and labor activists, and journalists. The regularity with which the killings have taken place, the perpetrators’ common profile—all gun-toting men astride motorcycles--and the activist-backgrounds of the victims, suggest that “the attacks are not an unconnected series of criminal murders but constitute a politically-motivated pattern of killings,” says Amnesty international.

Indeed, blame for this frightening trend can only be lain squarely on the shoulders of the Arroyo government. Under her presidency, militarists have come to dictate peace and security policy in the country. Meanwhile, the failure of the government—from the executive to the police, military, and the courts—to punish those behind the murder spree have created a climate of impunity that further feeds into a cycle of violence and lawlessness that is spinning out of control.

The regime cannot simply feign helplessness. In the face of targeted murders that take place with almost predictable regularity, and mindful that few of the perpetrators are actually caught, much less brought to justice, it is a thin line that divides passivity and complicity.

Since February 1986 when we rose as a people to end Marcos’s rein of terror, there has been no fundamental change in Philippine society. Our experience with democratic struggles and today’s mockery of it show that we need to pursue structural changes to rid our society of injustice and inequity, alongside fighting for pro-people and democratic governance. We can no longer be content at democracy being simply the restoration of elite competition for political power. History has shown that these very same elites—those who draw support from foreign powers and state instrumentalities of coercion and violence, namely, an unreformed military—have only been too willing to put aside democratic institutions to pursue personal gains.

Arroyo’s pledge is to build a “strong republic,” yet it is creeping lawlessness, mass despair, and widespread corruption that are defining her rule. She is seeding an environment that is troublingly familiar, and that bears indictment on this particular day. More than three decades on, the shades of martial law are undeniable.

And so today, we, members of the Strategic Initiatives of Pinoys Abroad (SIPA) commemorate the 34th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, to draw lessons from the past as well as to express our commitment to ensuring that its tragedies and injustices will never come to pass again.

We demand an accounting of the Arroyo regime’s crimes against the Filipino people, and affirm the solidarity of overseas Filipinos (OFs) with our compatriots at home who continue to fight against tyranny, poverty, and illegitimate governance. On this day we remind ourselves that it remains the patriotic duty of each Filipino overseas worker to participate in the struggle for a just, free, and progressive Philippine society.

September 21, 2006
Thailand