A documentary about Martial Law under President Ferdinand E. Marcos. A brief story on how the former president planned the declaration of Martial Law during his term as president of the Republic of the Philippines.
Marcos administration has been experiencing a crisis during the 1969 elections as protesters and activist have become more aggressive due to some speculations that government is plotting a plan to further extend the Marcos regime. And as the election campaigns continue, more and more people were killed in bombings which lead in blaming the Communist Party as the mastermind. Martial was declared at height of this staged chaos and assassination of government officials.
Proclamation No 1081 was formally announced on September 21, 1972, but have been originally signed on the 17th of September which confirmed how Marcos planned the declaration of Martial Law. After Martial Law was declared, thousands of innocent people were, scrutinized, arrested, violated, tortured and killed by the military and the government. Martial Law continues until 1981 and Marcos was exiled in 1986 due to People Power Revolution.
Lourd De Veyra tackles the history and the truth about Martial Law. He invited some experts that can explain the common martial law myths that the young generations believed throughout the years. Professors, historians, politician, and experts discuss what is the truth about the Marcos regime.
They answer the situation and the real economic state of the Philippines during the Marcos time. They discuss the wrong perception of the Filipino that the Marcos’s helped the Philippines economy on being one of the best countries in South East Asia.
The experts explain the truth about Martial Law and how the people really reacted on “Batas Militar”, the human rights violations, how people are being tortured and raped during the Batas Militar. They also talk about how the media was controlled by the Martial Law during the Marcos era. They discuss how the young generations today has been made to believe that the Marcos era was the greatest time of the Philippine History.
A short video showing the real shape of power during the Martial Law under the Marcos regime. There were many people who have lost, abducted and went missing under the dark days of Martial Law. And thousands of people have been hurt in different provinces because of the Marcos dictatorship.
In Camarines Sur during the election period, more than 4 thousand protesters were shot by the Philippine Constabulary because they conduct a march and boycott against the election. 100 were arrested, 5 were hurt and 4 were killed during the open fire. Another incident happened in Barrio Sag Od Northern Samar, where 18 armed men from San Jose Timber Corporation infiltrated the whole barrio.
People were shot while they were lined up in front the house of the Barrio’s captain. Only 13 people from the barrio survived during the shoot up. In other provinces, thousands of people are forced to live in camps to allegedly protect the people from NPA’s. But the truth is, people were forced to work in Multinational companies that owned by Marcos cronies. More than 200 thousand were displaced and lost their homes. These incidents during the Martial law are the sins that cannot be forgotten.
A short video explaining how greed and corrupt the former President Marcos is. His greed started when he became the president and starts to get kickbacks from various government contracts. Marcos and his wife Imelda was able to hide 950 Million dollars account in a bank in Switzerland.
When Martial Law was declared, he started to claim all the wealth of the Philippine government and made his own law that gives him the authority to seize all kinds of industries. His profits increased and all of his relatives and friends are all his cronies. He forcibly gets from WWII Japanese Reparations, International Aids, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Loans from foreign countries and from the US Military Aid. Even the coconut farmers are not spared because he orders the million of farmers to pay for more than 200 million dollars worth of taxes.
When the Marcos family were exiled in Hawaii, US customs list down all of the items brought by the Marcos’s that includes, crates of money, Jewelries, Gold bullion’s, deposit slips, and a solid gold statue encrusted with real diamonds. A total of 30 billion dollars are stolen by the Marcos’s and while more and more Filipinos are getting poor, the government has not yet recovered all Marcos’s ill gotten wealth.
Pete Lacaba was one of the thousands of people who spoke up against the Martial Law during the Marcos regime. He was tortured and his brother was among the thousand they killed. He was among the protesters and activist when Marcos declares Martial Law.
He recalls how he carries subversive materials during the Martial Law and he would go around wearing suits and carrying an attaché case to avoid suspicion. He said he was not afraid and never feared for his life because knew he was fighting for the rights and freedom of every Filipino.
He was detained and tortured for months and was released only to find out put that his brother Eman was killed in Mindanao. He continues his fight because he knows he is fighting for people who were abused, raped, tortured, killed and disappeared. He will never stop fighting for the victims’ finds justice from the Marcos regime.
