21/09/2025
๐ฑ๐ฏ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐
Today, September 21, we mark the 53rd anniversary of the proclamation of Martial Law. In this period, a man cloaked the country with a golden veil, seemingly presenting it as thriving and progressive. Yet beneath the shimmer lay the corruption, oppression, and the shameless plunder of public funds. For 14 years, Filipinos lived in terror, the media was stifled, and the truth was buried.
However, Filipinos did not stay silent. They rose, came together, and ousted the dictator. For a moment there was a glimmer hopeโthat true progress could finally be within reach.
Yet that hope soon dimmed. Decades later, the same blood sits in power, once again boasting of progress unfelt by Filipinos. The country remains stagnant, voices stayed stifled, the people still struggled to breathe.
The fight continues as thousands of Filipinos gather once more across the country today, holding placards of courage, raising voices of truth, and marching the same roads that once broke the chains of 14 years of tyranny. Each step is a tribute to the sacrifices of those who dared to dream of freedom; each cry, a defiance against corruption that still stains our land.
The struggle did not end with the fall of a dictator, nor does it end today. Each generation carries the duty to guard our freedom and demand accountability. If we fail to stand, history will write the same story again. But if we rise together, we can shape a tomorrow where truth prevails, justice reigns, and the nation truly prospers.
Let us never forget what was done to our people and to our beloved country. For we are the hope of what was, and the heroes of what will be.
Caption | Arianne Getio
Layout | Sandimar Ngolaban and Myiesha Corro
