Fighting disinformation "one Filipino at a time"

Martial law rights abuse victims vow to keep on telling the stories of "martyrs and heroes" until justice is truly served

Danilo dela Fuente, a 73-year-old community organizer in an urban poor community in the Philippine capital Manila, will not be retiring any time soon.

First, because Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., has been elected as the country’s next president, and second, “because disinformation must be fought with truth-telling.”

Days after the May 9 elections, Dela Fuente visited his friends in the coastal village of Dagat-dagatan in the outskirts of the city of Caloocan City in the capital.

Since 2016, the elderly organizer has been walking in the narrow alleys, has been knocking on doors, and has been campaigning against the return of the Marcoses in power.

“I have pledged my remaining days to battle any attempt to erase the abuses of martial law under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.,” said Dela Fuente. “This is all about justice,” he said.

He was a labor organizer in 1982 when the police arrested and detained him for allegedly violating the Anti-Subversion Law.

“They brought me to Camp Crame (a police camp). There, they started to torture me …. They held my head and rammed it against the wall. When I doubled over in pain, they would punch me again,” he said.

Dela Fuente was imprisoned, without the benefit of a trial, for four years. After the fall of the dictatorship in 1986, he was released with the other political prisoners under the government’s general amnesty program.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Those who lived that years of martial law said the brutality of those years and the administration of the late Marcos Sr., who ruled the country for two decades, “went beyond physical torture.”

Santiago Mantela, 66, was arrested while playing basketball. He said he had no connection with any activist group, but was detained for four months.

“They beat me up and they didn’t stop until I passed out,” he said. “They also used electric shocks on my private parts, and afterward, they threw me into a dark cell,” Mantela narrated.

Both Dela Fuente and Mantela belong to a group of former political prisoners, the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA).

It was established on Dec. 4, 1984, and works for the release of all political prisoners and for the humane treatment of those in detention.

Dela Fuenta, currently vice chairperson of the group, said that the organization’s purpose has expanded “to fight the historical lies that the Marcoses have been spreading.”

“The abuses of the Marcos dictatorship are real,” he said. “Victims have names and stories to tell. Many of us are still alive and we are the living proof that it happened.”

Background photo: Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Fighting lies

Philippine human rights organizations have reported that at least 3,257 people were killed during the military rule of Marcos Sr., while about 34,000 others were tortured and 1,600 were disappeared.

Political analyst Antonio La Viña is a “bit more optimistic” that Filipinos won’t forget the abuses during martial law.

A lot of things had already happened to deal with the past, he said, citing the enactment of the Human Rights Reparation and Recognition Act in 2013.

With the law, the state has acknowledged its “legal and moral obligation” for the gross human rights violations committed by the administration of Marcos Sr. during the years of martial law from Sept. 21, 1972, to Feb. 25 1986.

The law states that the state “recognizes the heroism and sufferings of all Filipinos and provides reparation to the victims and/or their families for the deaths, injuries, sufferings, deprivations and damages they suffered under the Marcos regime.”  

“That could not be taken away,” said La Viña. “The history of that could not be taken away.”

From its creation in 1986 until December 2020, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, which was created to recover the “ill-gotten wealth” of the Marcoses, was able to retrieve about PhP174 billion.

The amount came from money sequestered by the commission or surrendered under various compromise agreements.

La Viña said institutions and sectors must come together to fight what he described as the “massive disinformation and misinformation” about the dark days of the martial law era.

“We have to go to the masses to engage with them,” he said, but added that Filipinos seemed to have undergone “miseducation” about their history. “Miseducation is not just the miseducation of the poor, it’s the miseducation of everyone.”

He said disinformation and misinformation happened even before the victory of Marcos Jr. last May. “The problem is we started too late in responding to it and now we have to overtake that,” said La Viña.

In November 2021, the Movement Against Disinformation, which La Viña heads, was organized to “prevent and stop the systematic and unregulated spread of disinformation.”

“We should have done this three or four years ago, but it’s not yet the end of the battle,” he said, adding that “truth-tellers” need “to push back.”

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Revisiting the past

A memorial in the Philippine capital speaks not only about the horrors of martial law under Marcos Sr. but pronounces the bravery, courage, and sacrifices of those who fought for freedom and human rights.

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani, or “Monument of Heroes,” is a historical research center that honors the martyrs and heroes during the years of the dictatorship.

The central element of the center is the “Wall of Remembrance” where the names of the martyrs and heroes are inscribed.

Various artists perform in an event honoring the martrys and heroes of the 1970s military rule under the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Various artists perform in an event honoring the martrys and heroes of the 1970s military rule under the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convenor of Campaign Against the Return of Marcos and Martial Law, addresses the crowd during an event honoring the martrys and heroes who fought the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani on May 21.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convenor of Campaign Against the Return of Marcos and Martial Law, addresses the crowd during an event honoring the martrys and heroes who fought the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani on May 21.

Chikoy Pura playing guitar

Chikoy Pura, artist and human rights activist, performs during a gathering of friends and families of the martial law abuses victims at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Chikoy Pura, artist and human rights activist, performs during a gathering of friends and families of the martial law abuses victims at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

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Various artists perform in an event honoring the martrys and heroes of the 1970s military rule under the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Various artists perform in an event honoring the martrys and heroes of the 1970s military rule under the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convenor of Campaign Against the Return of Marcos and Martial Law, addresses the crowd during an event honoring the martrys and heroes who fought the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani on May 21.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convenor of Campaign Against the Return of Marcos and Martial Law, addresses the crowd during an event honoring the martrys and heroes who fought the Marcos dictatorship at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani on May 21.

Chikoy Pura playing guitar

Chikoy Pura, artist and human rights activist, performs during a gathering of friends and families of the martial law abuses victims at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Chikoy Pura, artist and human rights activist, performs during a gathering of friends and families of the martial law abuses victims at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

May Rodriguez, a former political prisoner and journalist, heads the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation Inc.

She said the Foundation will not just watch and sit as people try to distort history and rebrand the Marcos dictatorship as the “golden era” of the country.

“We will strengthen our fight against disinformation and misinformation through various forms,” she vowed.

“What makes us committed and keeps us going are the narratives of the martyrs and heroes who offered their lives for democracy and freedom,” said Rodriguez.

A nun placing a candle at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

She said that for as long as the “Wall of Remembrance” is there and the families of those who suffered are alive, “[the Marcoses] cannot deny what happened during the dictatorship.”

Rodriguez vowed to “continue telling the stories of the martyrs and heroes.”

“We owe it to those who suffered and to those who are still suffering because of injustice,” she said.

On May 21, Dela Fuente and the other survivors of martial law joined the families and friends of the 320 people whose names are inscribed on the “Wall of Remembrance” to offer candles, flowers, and prayers.

In a voice so soft it’s almost a whisper, the 73-year-old community organizer promised that he will not stop telling the stories of the martyrs “to one Filipino at a time, until justice is truly served.”

With generous support from missio Aachen

and

Aid to the Church in Need

Text and photos by Mark Saludes

Published June 8, 2022

© Copyright MMXXII LiCAS.news

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.

Friends and families of the martial law abuses victims, under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr, offer candles, flowers, and prayers at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City on May 21.