Discovering Relics of Marcos’ Martial Law (Part one of a series)

 

 

During An Afternoon Stroll at San Miguel District, I remembered Ivan Dy of Old Manila Walks pointing out to us a piece of furniture while we were at the Quezon Room of Malacanang’s Kalayaan Hall.  This silent relic was a chair where Philippine Dictator Ferdinand Marcos sat upon while he went announcing on radio and TV that the Philippines was under Martial Law. An event that shook our nation which we remember today.

 

 

Two days prior to that nationwide broadcast, Marcos signed Proclamation 1081 on September 21, 1972, which granted him the authoritarian powers he has claimed he needed to “eliminate the violent overthrow of our republic” and to initiate reforms under what he would later call the “New Society.” Under the martial rule, Marcos closed down Congress, fired the judiciary, took over media, arrested his critics and imprisoned those whom he considered threats to the State and centralized the police force.

 

Belonging to a generation born years after Martial Law was lifted in 1981, I can only rely on history books and make a pilgrimage to places that speak of stories about our both dark and glorious past. In relation to the events which took place before and during the Martial Law, the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, Inc. has put up the Bantayog Memorial Center (BMC).

 

 

BMC stands on a sprawling lot located along Quezon Avenue corner EDSA at the back of the national Power Corporation building. It is perfectly accessible from both major thoroughfares and the MRT Quezon Avenue station. However, the place is hardly noticeable from the road. I have only learned about it recently from a few write-ups on the web.

 

According to journalist Conrado de Quiros, teaching history is what we most need to do because it is what we lack. This country’s inability to remember martial law is but a drop of water in a deep well that is this country’s inability to remember what went before. We’re a rudderless country drifting aimlessly in the present. De Quiros is simply pointing out that if we don’t value our  past, we don’t have a future.

 

 

When Marcos declared martial law, many of those who oppose his dictatorship were slaughtered while fighting for the cause of freedom. BMC serves as a reminder of those men and women who did something heroic for the sake of the next generation -our generation.

 

Standing on the beautifully landscaped park designed by National Artist for Architecture Ildefonso P. Santos is the Inang Bayan Monument. Designed and created by Eduardo Castrillo, the 45-foot bronze sculpture is like a version of the La Pieta that depicts Inang Bayan lifting a fallen martyr however looking at the future in full hope and fortitude. A portion of Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios is inscribed at the base of the monument.

 

 

 

A black granite wall that bares the names of the martyrs and heroes who dared to fight the repressive and corrupt regime which ruled the country from December 30, 1965 to February 25, 1986 are immortalized in the Wall of Remembrance.

 

The honorees were selected for their significant contribution in the struggle towards the restoration of freedom, justice and democracy such as speaking up or writing against oppression, terrorism, despotism and plunder and organizing or participating in protest action.

 

 

 

To complement the 45-foot Inang Bayan Monument and the Wall of Remembrance, the Bantayog Museum was opened to show the horrors associated with martial law and fall of the authoritarian regime.

 

This is part one of a series about Bantayog ng mga Bayani.