By Mario Casayuran
“Every martial law anniversary should be a moment to spread the truth and should be a time to resist and rise.”
The Liberal Party (LP) stressed this on Friday, the eve of the 47th anniversary of martial law declaration.
In a statement, the LP lauded the initiative of the University of the Philippines (UP) in making the teaching of martial law a component of its curriculum even as it expressed alarm over the increasing instances of red-tagging and political harassment.
The UP initiative would hopefully enlighten and empower the Filipino people, especially today's youth, and make them realize that our fragile freedom and democracy are once again under threat and we need to keep guard.
“Today, as we commemorate the 47th year of martial law, we express alarm over the increasing instances of red-tagging and political harassment, especially the most recent one involving Sonia Soto, four-time Golden Dove awardee and fellow former student activist,” the statement said.
“The opposition political group said that “every martial law anniversary is an occasion to stand for truth and spread the real stories of the dark days of terror and injustice under the 21-year Marcos dictatorship.”
“Sonia and former student activists of that time know what martial law means: the death of democracy. She was among those who fought during those dark days,” the LP statement pointed out.
The LP maintained that there are no so-called alternative truths or tales from the other side of the coin.
“Martial law suppressed rights, caused disappearances, torture, and killings, and perpetrated systematic plunder,” it said.
The 73-year-old party said that over 10,000 persons had been recognized by the courts as victims of martial law and that $50 billion of the plundered $171 billion has been recovered so far.