Martial Law in the Philippines: Lessons & Legacies, 1972-2022 is a collection of essays that explore a multitude of topics about the dictatorship period: cultural politics, dictatorial fantasies, populism and authoritarianism, religion, urban poor organizing, indigenous people, Filipino-Chinese identity, party politics, electoral reform, media roles, the Philippine constitution, population management, crony economic governance, terror and violence, the move from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr., and the Philippine Left. Its final chapter serves as an assessment of Martial Law 50 years since its declaration, and the prospects that face the Filipino people moving forward.
De Jesus, Edilberto and Ivyrose S. Baysic (eds.). Martial Law in the Philippines: Lessons & Legacies, 1972-2022. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023.
This short documentary looks at the impoverished and violent condition of the displaced urban poor in Butuan at the tail end of the Marcos regime. The film shows that as urban poor leaders and trade unionists are slain, “salvaged”, imprisoned, and disappeared, local communities continued to organize and resist notwithstanding the risk of arrest.
Asia Visions Productions, “No Time for Crying,” Cinemata video 29:45, May 5, 2022.
In this documentary, journalists, human rights lawyers, activists, labor leaders, and artists emphasize the work, the risks, and the hardships that came with challenging the Marcos dictatorship. They discuss issues of red-baiting and repression that led to the suffering and deaths of those who fought for democracy in the Philippines. “Ang batas ay hindi masyadong masama (the law is not that bad),” says former senator Jose W. Diokno in the film. “Ang masama ay ang pagka-intindi ng mga militar at pulis sa kahulugan ng batas (what’s bad is the interpretation of the military and police on the spirit of the law).”
The film begins with interviews of people visiting Ninoy Aquino’s wake at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City. It then moves to the experience of people representing various sectors: Sr. Christine Tan of Justice for Aquino, Justice for All; Joe Burgos, publisher of the independent newspaper Malaya; journalists Armando Malay and Ceres Doyo; former senator Jose W. Diokno; Letty Magsanoc, former editor of Philippine Panorama; Rene Saguisag, MABINI lawyer; Lino Brocka of Concerned Artists of the Philippines; Loretta Rosales of Alliance of Concerned Teachers; Ka Felicing Villados, labor leader; Popsing Malonzo of Kilusang Mayo Uno; Dr Sylvia de la Paz of the Medical Action Group; Elmer Mercado of League of Filipino Students; Sr Mariani Dimaranan of Tasks Force Detainees of the Philippines; Jaime Cardinal Sin, archbishop of Manila; and Ramon del Rosario, Jr, businessman.
Notable is the representation of mainstream celebrities and filmmakers who rose against censorship and human rights violations. The Manila Film Center and the Manila International Film Festival are visible in the background of protests and interviews. Director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Anita Linda, Johnny Delgado, Bembol Roco, Mitch Valdez, and Gina Alajar are seen speaking out in a mass demonstration against the Board of Review for Motion Pictures and Television headed by Maria Kalaw Katigbak.
The film itself is collectively made–the hierarchy of credits flattened–by artists who by this time were already quite renowned in the cinema scene, including director Mike de Leon, writers Jose F. Lacaba and Ricky Lee, and musician Ding Achacoso. “It was no accident that this documentary heavily influenced my depiction of the major characters of Sister Stella L.,” said de Leon, referring to the film starring Vilma Santos that he directed under Regal Films the following year. “Sister Christine and Ka Felicing became my templates for the characters of the two Sister Stellas and the union leader Ka Dencio.”
Mike de Leon, Jose F. Lacaba, Sylvia Mayuga, Ricardo Lee, Ding Achacoso, Joe Cuaresma, Lito Tiongson, Jovy Zarate, “Signos,” Vimeo video, uploaded by Citizen Jake, 38:33, December 4, 2018
https://vimeo.com/304516355.
https://vimeo.com/696054524?login=true
Lualhati Torres Bautista (December 2, 1945 – February 12, 2023) was a Filipina writer, novelist, liberal activist and political critic.
Lualhati Bautista’s Dekada ’70 follows the narrative of a middle-class family–the Bartolome family–as they live under the precarious milieu caused by President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ Martial Law. It traces the activities of the Bartolomes as they witness the radicalization of the society as seen in the growth of the underground movement and the First Quarter Storm. The novel also recounts the struggles of the family who experienced the military’s witch-hunt for activists at the height of the dictatorship which eventually wanes at the dawn of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. The novel paints a vivid picture of the struggles of individual family members as they confront bitter political realities that threaten to tear them apart. It is both heartwarming and hard-hitting, often portraying how the political is personal and how the personal is political. The novel was awarded the 1983 Palanca Award Grand Prize.
Bautista, Lualhati. Dekada ’70. Carmelo & Bauermann Printing Corp., 1988.
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.
The inaugural issue of the Philippines Information Bulletin. Started in 1973 by U.S.-based allies of the anti-Marcos movement, the Bulletin was in operation until 1976. The publication, which was eventually guided by the Friends of the Filipino People, kept people in the United States up to date on martial law developments in the Philippines as well as the role that the United States played in supporting the Marcos presidency.
Philippines Information Bulletin 1, no. 1 (January 1973).
