ILOILO City – Militant groups here led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Panay marked the 50th anniversary of Martial Law declaration in the country yesterday through a “cultural rally”, peace forum and dialogue with Martial Law survivors.
“It is important not to forget the terrible events of the past to avoid repeating them,” Bayan-Panay stressed in a press statement.
Bayan-Panay recalled the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. which “accelerated the country’s economic decline and drove the masses deeper into poverty.”
They said, among others, that the nation faced one of its darkest periods under Marcos rule, citing rampant human rights violations.
With the return of the Marcoses to Malacañang this 2022, the group believes that, “with the same economic policies and political thrusts of previous regimes, we cannot expect a life of abundance under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. but rather a life of misery, worsening poverty, and escalating human rights violations.”
They pointed out that in only 100 days of the second Marcos administration, inflation worsened, the peso further weakened, oil prices kept rising, and joblessness remained high while wage hikes – which have been few and far between – paled in comparison to the steep increases in the prices of commodities and services.
“Like his father, Marcos Jr. is also entrenching his family in power, with relatives and allies occupying key government posts to ensure a compliant Congress and a subservient bureaucracy,” they added.
Moreover, they noted that attacks against human rights defenders. In Panay Island, Bayan leaders in Aklan, development workers in Capiz, and progressive leaders in Iloilo were allegedly harassed, red-tagged and filed with multiple trumped-up charges.
They cited, among others, Bayan Panay secretary-general Elmer Forro’s arrest and detention for “baseless accusations built on fabricated evidence.”
“But this is not the time to retreat or surrender. With the worsening economic and political crises, we call on the people to rise and continue the fight for freedom and justice. No messianic leader or opposition figure will rid us of the inequities in our society. Our future is in our hands and we must act to protect it. If there is one thing our collective experience under the first Marcos regime has shown, it is that tyrants and thieves will never prevail and that repressive governments will, ultimately, be vanquished by people committed to truth and social change,” they added.
On the other hand, Forro, in a written statement, told fellow activists: “Ang pagpanumbalik sa poder sang pamilya Marcos mas maghangkat sa aton para mangin masupog sa pag-organisa kag maglunsar sang mga militante nga mga paghulag. Tukuron naton ang pinakabakod kag pinakamalapad nga alyansa sang pumoluyo nga ginahimuslan. Pangibabawan ang tanan nga porma sang kapintas kag pamahug.”/PN
