21/09/2025
๐ข๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฌ | ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ ๐๐น๐๐ฏ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ 21, 2025
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๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐-๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป.
On September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, plunging the Philippines into fourteen years of authoritarian rule that would scar our democracy and silence the voices of an entire generation. Today, The Sword stands in solemn remembrance of this dark chapterโnot merely as historians recounting the past, but as journalists committed to ensuring that the truth never dies.
Under the guise of restoring order and discipline, Martial Law became the instrument through which constitutional rights were suspended, Congress was dissolved, and the Supreme Court was rendered powerless. The free press, the very foundation upon which our profession stands, was decimated. Newspapers were shuttered, radio stations silenced, and journalists who dared to speak truth to power were imprisoned, tortured, or worse.
The statistics alone cannot capture the full horror: over 70,000 imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, 3,240 killed. But behind these numbers lie stories of families torn apart, dreams crushed, and voices forever silenced. Students who should have been in classrooms found themselves in detention centers. Journalists who should have been writing stories became the subjects of tragic headlines themselves.
We remember Archimedes Trajano, the student leader whose only crime was asking critical questions. We honor Liliosa Hilao, the first to die under military custody, her voice extinguished at merely 23 years old. We pay tribute to the countless journalistsโSatur Ocampo, Pete Lacaba, and so many othersโwho risked everything to keep the flame of truth burning in the darkness.
The regime built its power on propaganda, rewriting history even as it was being made. Libraries were purged of "subversive" materials. Textbooks were sanitized. The narrative was controlled with an iron fist, turning information into a weapon against the very people it should have served.
Today, as young journalists inheriting this scarred but resilient democracy, we carry the sacred responsibility of memory. We are the guardians of stories that power would prefer forgotten. We are the voices for those who can no longer speak.
The authoritarian playbook has not changedโit has only adapted. The same tactics that once silenced our predecessors now wear new masks: disinformation campaigns, social media manipulation, the gradual erosion of press freedom through legal harassment and economic pressure. The weapons may be digital now, but the war against truth remains the same.
๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป will we allow the darkness to fall without resistance.
๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป will we permit the rewriting of history to go unchallenged.
๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป will we let the voices of the oppressed be silenced while we stand idle.
As The Sword, we sharpen our pens not with hatred, but with the resolve to cut through lies. We wield our words not as weapons of destruction, but as tools of liberation. Every article we write, every truth we uncover, every injustice we expose is our contribution to the eternal vigilance that democracy demands.
The heroes of our profession did not die so that we could write in comfortโthey died so that we could write at all. Their sacrifice demands that we never take our freedom for granted, that we never become complacent in the face of creeping authoritarianism, and that we never forget the price that was paid for the press freedom we exercise today.
Let September 21 be more than just a day of remembranceโlet it be our renewal of commitment. Let it remind us that journalism is not just a profession, but a calling. Let it strengthen our resolve to be worthy inheritors of the courage shown by those who came before us.
The darkness lasted fourteen years, but the light of truth proved stronger. Today, that light burns in our newsrooms, in our classrooms, and in our hearts. We are the keepers of that flame, the authors of tomorrow's history, and the guardians of our people's right to know.
๐๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐.
๐๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ
๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
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๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ ๐๐น๐๐ฏ
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ"
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฎ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ.
Written by Rav Tuazon
Illustration by Danielha Zara
