MANILA (Agencies): The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines and several rights groups said the 48th anniversary of the 21 September 1972 declaration of Martial Law by the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, was an occasion to be wary of dictatorship, UCAN reported.
“Today we declare, ‘Never forget, never again to dictatorship and tyranny!’” they said in a statement issued by Capuchin Father Angel Cortez, co-executive secretary of the association.
Martial law led to an unprecedented reign of terror. Organisations critical of the Marcos administration were declared illegal, while many were forced to go underground. It choked freedom of the press, people’s right to credible information and politicised the military and judiciary, the statement recalled.
Along with others, Catholic religious “raised our voice” against the repression and “our predecessors committed ourselves to be prophets and witnesses to a Church of and for the poor,” the statement said.
An estimated two million people took to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) from 22 to 25 February in 1986, singing songs and shouting slogans against the authoritarian regime of Marcos.
Bishops, priests and religious were among the leaders. Jaime Cardinal Sin and Ricardo Cardinal Vidal were among those who marched with people in the EDSA revolution.
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga was reported by CBCPNews as saying, “We have to learn from Martial Law and live its lessons, and should never let it happen again. We have to value, defend and promote our freedom.”
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, echoed the call saying that many Filipinos have not learned the lessons of Martial Law.
“I think we have not learned our lessons. People are not vigilant and are not courageous enough to speak out,” Bishop Pabillo said, adding, “They allow themselves to be bullied.”
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UCAN reported that the statement from the religious superiors said Catholics participated in the anti-dictatorship struggle as “an exercise of their faith in the saving and liberating power of God who actively works in history.”
It said, “Many of them found the face of Christ in the suffering poor, reinvigorating their faith by actively upholding their prophetic witnessing in the society. Many would later testify that the period of their involvement in the anti-dictatorship struggle was some of the best years of their lives.”
The statement asserted, “Today tyranny is on the rise again. We pray to the God of liberation and renew our commitment to serve the voiceless and dehumanised, to a faith that does justice and makes for peace.”
The religious said they are appalled by continuing attacks on human rights defenders. “Our democratic institutions, our freedom of expression, freedom of the press and other fundamental rights are muzzled,” they said without naming any political leader.
“The culture of death is being glorified” with the bloody war on drugs, started by the incumbent president, Rodrigo Duterte, when he came to power in 2016, that has claimed the lives of thousands accused of being drug pushers or users without judicial processes, they said.
The administration also plans to bring back the death penalty, while the Philippines is witnessing large-scale corruption committed by the administration’s allies, the statement said.
Critical thinking is branded as “communist” or political opposition. The already narrowing democratic space is “further stifled with the passage of the Anti-Terror Law of 2020, which we demand the Supreme Court declare unconstitutional,” the association said.
The statement said, “The drift towards tyranny is going to the other side of the pendulum. Now, the Marcoses are trying to rewrite history to sanitise themselves.”
Bishop Arturo Bastes, the retired bishop of Sorsogon, recalled that as a priest and head of social action in the Diocese of Surigao, he was among those who suffered the horrors of martial law, CBCPNews reported.
“I personally experienced harassment and danger during this period… However, many Filipinos seem to have a short memory of the horrors of Martial Law,” he lamented.
Bishop Santos also decried politicians who opt to replicate the atrocities that happened during the dark times of the dictatorship, CBCPNews reported.
“There are political leaders, who are self-serving, using their position to enrich and to prolong their power,” he said.
