21/09/2025
๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ | ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ
โ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฉ, ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ,โ each year, we remind ourselves of the dangers of deceit, that its consequences manifest through the cracks on rain worn roads, or the yearning of a non-existent golden age, or the devaluation of education in the hopes of keeping the masses adrift. We are reminded that lies draw nothing but blood, oppression, and violence. But every 21st of September, we remember.
Today marks the 53rd Anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law under Marcos Sr.โs presidency, which started out as a good will, a promise to the Filipino people that will uphold the economic state of the nation, as they call it the โGolden Ageโ, the start of strengthened military to protect its citizens, for which concluded to be a violent memory of many.
One must never forget when it was just an excuse to extend and bypass the two-term constitutional limit and strengthen his dictatorship, which reflects a deceitful road to achieve his ulterior motive. To close the congress, to throw newspapers down the drain, and to fill prisons with critics instead of real criminals. Under his watch, 70,000 were arrested, 34,000 tortured, and over 3,200 killed to promote the price of โdisciplineโ while Filipinos lined up for rationed rice yet whatโs worse is that the Marcoses lined their closets with shoes and their bank accounts with $5 to $10 billion in stolen wealth, coming from the hands and efforts of the mere citizens. It took the People Power Revolution of 1986 to remind him that no amount of gold bars or propaganda could buy the peopleโs patience forever.
This slogan then became a call to ask citizens to keep the memory alive so that patterns that led to repression are acknowledged and not left unchallenged. In the case of the Marcos years, remembering also means facing uncomfortable facts which include widespread censorship of the press, arrests without warrant, torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the systematic use of state power to stiffen and constrict people of their own freedom. Tens of thousands were arrested and detained, thousands were tortured, and many were killed or disappeared, which reflects a system built on fear.
Yet the image of โnever forget, never againโ is under strain. In recent years, public debate over the Marcos era has spurred competing narratives. Some insist the period was one to promote order and progress, others point it to be disinformation campaigns, nostalgia, and a failure of civic education that allow revisionist versions of the past to spread. The elderly insist that the younger never even witnessed Marcos Sr.โs regime and that they should just stay silent. But know this, the younger generations, in solidarity, owe it to the people who pour their blood, sweat, and tears to achieve the progress we are witnessing and lavishing today, by recounting and never forgetting, because when younger generations never lived through repression, the revisionist account of history becomes easier especially when archives are neglected,and online platforms manifest revised myths rather than truth.
Forgetting does not heal, rather, it abandons the lessons written in blood and struggle.
โNever forget, never againโ should be more than just a chant, it must be translated into law, education, civic practice, and collective memory. Forgetting is an easy drift, and remembering requires work. The cost of neglect is high, and ironically, since the Marcos family is back in power, the past can be easily erased, and the nation becomes vulnerable to the same era that produced 70,000 arrests, 34,000 cases of torture, and over 3,000 killings. We owe it to the victims, and to ourselves, to keep the record clear and the lesson taught thereof: never forget and never again. | The Thirteenth Scholars via JB Beniga
Illustration | Sai Sai Hurtado
Graphics | Abrielle Alika Besario
