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“Democracy, Philippine Style,” Philippines Free Press
Philippine Free Press News Team
“Democracy, Philippine Style,” Philippines Free Press
Philippine Free Press News Team
This special issue of the Philippine Free Press, dated September 4, 1971, contains an in-depth treatment, including color photographs, of the bombing at Plaza Miranda, during a political rally in Manila, which occurred on August 21, 1971. The bombing caused nine deaths and injured 95 others, including many prominent Liberal Party politicians, considered as President Marcos’s strongest opposition party. This bombing became one of the main reasons for the declaration of Martial Law used by President Marcos himself to remain in power.
“Democracy, Philippine Style,” Philippines Free Press, September 4, 1971.
31st reenactment of the Escalante Massacre (2016)
Cultural Center of the Philippines
31st reenactment of the Escalante Massacre (2016)
Cultural Center of the Philippines
This is a short clip of the 2016 annual re-enactment of the Escalante Massacre that happened on September 20, 1985 in Escalante, Negros Occidental. This commemoration is done by Escalante’s theater and grassroots organizations.
Cultural Center of the Philippines, “31st Anniversary Re-Enactment of Escalante Massacre,” YouTube video, 6:01, October 17, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jRRg3SPIw4
A Conviction at Last (1993)
Probe Archives
This September 1993 episode of The Probe looks into the first conviction of Imelda Marcos for the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. Imelda Marcos remained resolute in contesting the conviction.
Probe Archives, “A Conviction at Last,” Vimeo, 13:22, May 6, 2022
A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Rene Ciria Cruz, Cindy Domingo, and Bruce Occena
A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Rene Ciria Cruz, Cindy Domingo, and Bruce Occena
A collection of brief memoirs written by members of the Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino (KDP or Union of Democratic Filipinos). Former activists share a range of stories about their experiences organizing against the Marcos government as well as important lessons that they learned from their political work.
Cruz, Rene Ciria, Cindy Domingo, and Bruce Occena, eds. A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017.
Aftermath of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination (1983)
AP Archive
On August 21, 1983, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was returning home aboard China Airlines flight C1-811 after three years of self-imposed exile in the United States. Six years earlier, he was convicted by a military court for subversion, murder, and illegal possession of firearms. Aquino was sentenced to death by firing squad, and was jailed until he was allowed in 1980 to undergo heart surgery in the US.
The military was alerted of Aquino’s homecoming, to which, upon instructions by Gen. Fabian Ver, they drew up Oplan Balikbayan: a “total security system that envisions minimum exposure of subject” and “if properly implemented… shall be able to ensure complete security of subject.” Around 1,199 officers were assigned to provide security, crowd control, intelligence, and surveillance in the area; however, no medical group was assigned in case of emergency.
Aquino was aware of the danger he faced upon his return. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, and escorted by journalists. “You have to be ready with your hand camera because this action can become very fast,” Aquino told them. “In a matter of three or four minutes it could be all over, and I may not be able to talk to you again after this.”
Aquino’s words proved true. As he alighted the plane escorted by two officers of the Aviation Security Command (AVSECOM), he was shot point-blank at the back of his head. An AVSECOM van took him to the Philippine Army General Hospital in Fort Bonifacio, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. “Nasingitan ang mga tauhan natin (they slipped past our men),” said General Ver.
In this clip, we see the body of Rolando Galman, clad in blue, on the tarmac. Galman was accused of being the killer. Ninoy’s sister Tessie is also seen awash in disbelief. Outside the terminal, a throng of supporters eager to welcome Aquino, including filmmaker Lino Brocka, were chanting “We want Ninoy!” until they received the grim news.
A government spokesman recounts the events of the assassination. Aquino’s body was left in its bloodied state for viewing by thousands of Filipinos. “The united opposition strongly condemns the brutal and treacherous murder of Senator Benigno S. Aquino while he was at the Manila International Airport and in the custody of the military,” says new opposition leader Salvador Laurel in a press conference.
Three days after Aquino’s death, Marcos established a short-lived commission to investigate the incident. Another commission was created that came to the conclusion that the assassination was a military conspiracy. While a number of military officers were charged with murder, they were acquitted a few months later.
On 10 December 1987, by virtue of RA 6639, Congress renamed Manila International Airport to Ninoy Aquino International Airport in memory of the slain senator. His portrait was also placed on the 500-peso note, which was officially reintroduced a few months earlier on 21 August.
AP Archive, “GS 24 8 83 Aftermath of Assassination of Opposition Leader, Benigno Aquino in Manila,” YouTube video, 3:38, April 10, 2021.
An Analysis of the Philippine Economic Crisis
Emmanuel De Dios (ed.)
An Analysis of the Philippine Economic Crisis
Emmanuel De Dios (ed.)
Papers on the state of the Philippine economy under Marcos by some of the most important political economists in the country. Their report embodies the results of a series of workshops on the economic crisis under Martial Law, held between November 1983 and May 1984, in which interested faculty members of the University of the Philippines School of Economics participated. Topics ranged from fiscal policy to unemployment as well as recommendations for solving the crisis.
De Dios, Emmanuel S. (ed.). An Analysis of the Philippine Economic Crisis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1986.
Ascending the Fourth Mountain: A Personal Account of the Marcos Years
Maria Virginia Y. Morales
Ascending the Fourth Mountain: A Personal Account of the Marcos Years
Maria Virginia Y. Morales
A deeply moving and personal book by Virginia Morales who dedicated her life to the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and to political and social change in the Philippines. Morales’s memoir chronicles her childhood and genealogy through her early life in Mindanao, to her move to Manila for college and the ups and downs of her political marriage. This book deftly links the personal and the political as the author herself writes, “I have learned that unless we see our lives against the backdrop of history, our own remains puny, dull, and insignificant. It is only against the backdrop of history that we understand the context of our lives and the period in which we lived.”
Morales, Maria Virginia Y., Ascending the Fourth Mountain: A Personal Account of the Marcos Years, Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2021.
Awakening of Milbuk
Arthur Amaral
Arthur Amaral was a Passionist Priest deployed to Baranggay Milbuk, a logging community near Barangay Malisbong along the coast of the Celebes Sea in Mindanao. The book shares an account of the violence that encroached into the area with the escalation of conflict between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front. Amaral, using alternate names in his recounting of events, accounts for the ambush of logging employees in 1974, among them indigenous Manobo Peoples working for the American Weyerhaeuser Corporation. He then narrates the arrival of Philippine Military forces in their defense, and signs of retaliations made against the Muslim population that would manifest as the Malisbong Massacre. He also shares his attempts at documenting and raising awareness on the same matter – conducting an inquiry among Muslim civilians in nearby evacuation centers and contacting the Associated Press.
Amaral, Arthur. 2015. “Awakening of Milbuk.” Bloomington: AuthorHouse.
Balita News, April 30, 1983
Balita News
Researchers may take interest in examining the materials emphasized and positioned under the Balita tabloid, owned by Marcos Crony Hanz Menzi under the Marcos Administration. Included, but not highlighted in the front page, is an article noted as “Binulgar ni Laurel – Fraud at Elections is being Prepared.” The piece expressed suspicions of fraud being prepared in line for possible Snap Elections within the year 1985 or during elections in 1986 or 87. Another article positions itself against U.S. Media portrayals of the state seemingly aligning with the opposition, titled “American media slant RP coverage”.
Balita News Tabloid. Vol. 7. No. 14. 30 April 1983.
Balita News, August 23, 1983
Balita News
This issue of the Balita tabloid, taken from the digital collections of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, was written in the aftermath of the Assassination of Former Senator Benigno Aquino on August 1983. Researchers may find this piece of particular interest given that the tabloid at this time was owned by Marcos Crony Hanz Menzi. A unique perspective from Marcos-affiliated media allows one to observe the type of materials, events, and content highlighted by the piece immediately following Aquino’s death.
Balita News Tabloid. Vol. 11. No. 266. 23 August 1983.
Balita News, June 16, 1983
Balita News
Retrieved from the online library of the Bantayog Foundation, this copy of the Balita News Tabloid, then owned by Marcos Crony Hanz Menzi, offers perspective on the selection and positioning of media news connected with the Administration. The issue features an article titled “Canadian priest is Harassed by gov’t” referring to the harassment of the clergy in Mindanao – including Canadian Father Pat Kelly and German Nationals arrested with Karl Gaspar. Another article later in the paper also speculates on whether Former Senator Benigno Aquino would be returning in time for the 1984 Parliamentary elections.
Balita News Tabloid. Vol. 5. No. 18. 2 June 1983.
Balita News, June 2, 1983.
Balita News Team
Retrieved from the online library of the Bantayog Foundation, this copy of the Balita News Tabloid, then owned by Marcos Crony Hanz Menzi, offers perspective on the selection and positioning of media news connected with the Administration. The issue features an article titled “Canadian priest is Harassed by gov’t” referring to the harassment of the clergy in Mindanao – including Canadian Father Pat Kelly and German Nationals arrested with Karl Gaspar. Another article later in the paper also speculates on whether Former Senator Benigno Aquino would be returning in time for the 1984 Parliamentary elections.
Balita News Tabloid. Vol. 5. No. 18. 2 June 1983.
