That Martial Law Thingy

A compendium of resources and thoughts about Martial Law in the Philippines and the ongoing efforts of the Marcoses to return to power. Contact: thatmartiallawthingy [at] gmail.com

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Welcome

On May 9, 2016, a tweet by a young girl claimed that "the Marcoses are good people. Others just don't see it because they focus on the Martial Law thingy," causing an uproar among people who lamented how history is taught and ignored here, how the youth are unaware of the horrors of Martial Law, and how people have forgotten what it has done to the country.

Her comment and the extremely tight VP race between Leni Robredo and Bongbong Marcos spawned this blog, which aims to provide information about the Marcoses and the Martial Law era. Let's keep learning about that part of our history so we will never forget and never let it happen again.

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Thoughts coming soon

I've been taking a few days to cry, ponder, cry a little more, and regain my energy.

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Quick rant

"Ano bang ninakaw sa 'yo?" is one of the things that Marcos supporters like to ask and wow it is hard to deal diplomatically with that level of stupidity. Pera ng taumbayan ang nilimas nila. Tayo ang taumbayan. What's not connecting?

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How's everyone doing?

I've been more quiet than usual here because of campaign stuff. I hope you're all doing well and doing your part, and continuing to read up on the Marcos family's atrocities.

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FALSE: PH most literate Asian country under Marcos, literacy rate dropped after his ouster

Data show that the Philippines was not the most literate country in Asia, at least from 1980-1986. The country’s literacy rate also went up

Marcos apologists are claiming that the Philippines was the most literate Asian country under Marcos. The truth?

Compared to selected countries in Asia, data show that the Philippines did not have the highest adult literacy rate (ages 15 and up), youth literacy rate (ages 15-24), and literacy rate for the population aged 25 to 64 when Marcos was in office.

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A sobering reminder

If Marcos Jr. wins in 2022, it's not going to stop with him. His entire family will be next in line, and the effects of their rule will echo for generations (it's already happening) and we will always have politicians who will side with them and try to curry favor for their own self-interests and we're never getting out of this situation. Fighting the Marcos lies isn't just a task for one election cycle only.

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Honoring the Martyrs and Heroes of the struggle against dictatorship in the Philippines

Here's a good resource for those who are looking for information about the human rights abuses and the victims during Martial Law, and about Martial Law in general. The Bantayog ng Mga Bayani Center is also continuously conducting research on Martial Law and aims to amplify the voices of the people who experienced its effects firsthand.

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"Bakit ba galit na galit kayo sa mga Marcos?"

Because anger and outrage are the correct emotions to feel when it comes to a corrupt dictator and his corrupt family of thieves. You shouldn't feel admiration or loyalty or love for them.

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A fruitless pursuit

One of the things that people encourage others to do is to not block friends or shut down people who support the Marcoses. Doing so, they say, encourages dialogue and possibly results in edification. I've seen a few posts where people talk about how they've discussed their presidential choice and the Marcoses with other people, whether it's a friend, a family member, or someone working in a shop they visited. There still are people who are on the fence, unaware of the issues, or interested and keeping an open mind.

Still, I believe that the more hopeless cases and the least likely people that one can convince of the truth are the educated middle class to the upper class, who are confident in whatever knowledge they harbor and who may have come away from Martial Law unscathed. # I know you're probably here for Martial Law content and resources, but instead I've been turning this into a space for my ruminations. Thank you for your patience.

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A new tactic?

I've been seeing an uptick in Marcos supporters calling for kindness and respect for people's different choices. Ironic when you think about how they're the ones who shout and drown out critics and anyone who presents them with facts about the person/family they support.

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A reminder

On November 9, 2018, Imelda Marcos was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and 1 month to 11 years for each of the 7 counts with perpetual disqualification from public office. Yet she hasn't served a single minute of her sentence and has not even been arrested.

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What's in a name

Over on Twitter, people are talking about how we should stop using "BBM" and just refer to him as "Marcos Jr." because "BBM" is supposedly a Cambridge Analytica creation to boost his branding. Others are saying to not use "Marcos Jr." because it helps voters remember who he is more because that will be written on the ballot. It makes me think that "BBM" would be okay to use because it won't be on the ballot (unless he's one of the politicians who'll have his nickname printed along with his full name on the ballot). Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this.

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Marcos Martial Law documents on Google Drive!

To anyone who wants to learn more about Martial Law and the crimes and excesses of the Marcoses, this Google Drive link has a ton of documents for you to check out.

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From Bloomberg Businessweek: Where Did Marcos Hide His $10 Billion Fortune?

Published on June 28, 2021

Benjamin Tolosa Jr., an associate dean and political science professor at Ateneo de Manila University, says the Marcos family’s wealth, which they’ve managed to preserve despite the efforts of Swift, Broder, and others, helps them retain influence. Political opponents say Bongbong used money stolen by his father to run ads during his 2016 vice presidential campaign. Scenes in The Kingmaker, a 2019 documentary about Imelda, show her swanning around Manila in recent years, handing out cash to the excited mobs that surround her car and to children at a cancer hospital. The estimated $10 billion that the family amassed “is tragically being used to consolidate the Marcoses’ power, prevent them from becoming fully accountable, and is now helping them to fully regain presidential power,” Tolosa says.

Read the full article.

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Why keep talking about the Marcoses?

In Leni Robredo groups on Facebook, I see some people saying we should put the focus on Robredo and stop talking about Marcos. I say different. While it's important to be very loud and visible about one's support for Robredo (because people can be bandwagoners and will be interested if they see enough people doing/saying/supporting something/someone), the conversation about the Marcoses and Martial Law shouldn't stop, because we as a country are very forgettable and, as it turns out, easily swayed by memes and false information on social media.

This country didn't do enough to teach each other—not just the younger generations, but also the people who kept their heads down during Martial Law and weren't directly affected by the atrocities and thus didn't know much about them—about the horrors of Martial Law and the excesses of the Marcoses. It's never the time to be quiet about that dark part of our history.

Also, we can fight several battles at the same time—we can support our candidate, speak out against government abuse, fight misinformation, and help others. It's tiring, but, you know, it all needs to be done.

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This blog has been quiet for a long time because, you know, life. But recent events made me decide to start posting here again, for my own sanity.

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The usual arguments

Posted this on my personal Facebook (it’s on private, so searching for the text won’t help), but I’m sharing it here too.

The fact: BBM supporters have made their minds up and won't listen to any facts and reasoned arguments. Their responses are just so very predictable:

"Maraming nagawa si Marcos," as if it's something we should be grateful for when a president should be working to improve people's lives and as if Ferdinand Marcos is the same person as his son.

"The sins of the father are not the sins of the son," which is curious, because they're pro-Marcos and yet, they think he's a sinner and his son is better than he is...?

"Hindi ka pa naman buhay no'n, hindi mo alam ang totoo," as if there is no such thing as learning about history and as if it's WRONG for people to study the past.

"Let history be the judge," as if history hasn't already made its judgment.

"Ah basta, BBM ako," as if that's enough and we don't need to learn and demand more from who could potentially lead the country.

"Laban lang naman yan ng mga Aquino at Marcos, wag nga nilang dinadamay ang buong bansa," as if the entire country didn't suffer under Martial Law and this was just a petty squabble between two powerful families.

I'm sure I missed many of their usual arguments, though this list isn't meant to be extensive. It's just exhausting reading the same tired, false responses (they're not even arguments or rebuttals), and they're really meant to grind us down to helplessness and frustration.

It's going to be a long road.

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‘We’ll pay Marcos debt until 2025’

Of all the myths that had been built around martial law, it is that which claims that one-man rule brought about the country’s golden economic age which is the biggest insult to Filipinos, according to a militant lawmaker.