Memorialization of Martial Law PDF

Memorialization of Martial Law Date Created @May 5, 2024 6:44 PM Dr. Jo-Ed Tirol: EDSA at 35: The Highway of History and the Forks of Memory On the 35th anniversary of EDSA, much has happened in our country and the world but most importantly, much has happened in how we perceive, how we remember, an...

Memorialization of Martial Law Date Created @May 5, 2024 6:44 PM Dr. Jo-Ed Tirol: EDSA at 35: The Highway of History and the Forks of Memory On the 35th anniversary of EDSA, much has happened in our country and the world but most importantly, much has happened in how we perceive, how we remember, and how we used to act of EDSA today Three Definitions of History 1. What has already happened This is history as an objective thing In many grade schools and high schools, history is defined as the past Everything that happened in the past, whether we know it or not, including EDSA 2. An Academic Discipline History in lectures, textbooks, course, etc. This is the historian’s domain This falls under a structure because it is a discipline but because of this, not everything can be taught “One cannot fully teach objectively in the classroom, there is always a perspective” So even here, there is a certain subjectivity that creates a biased teaching 3. Narrative Remembered by Society Memorialization of Martial Law 1 Every individual remembers events in particular way, but there is social memory: the way institutions teach history in a certain way to be remembers in a certain way (institutions as in families, church, orgs, etc.) History is taught, whether truth or not, but because it is perceived as correct, it can lead the society to have tragic mistakes then tragic consequences Example: There are certain websites now that the Talanos apparently gave the Marcos family hundreds of thousands of gold bars but ironically does not even appear in Marcos pseudo-biography Shows that history can be manipulated to be remembered in a particular way and if no one is careful this is the history that will be remembered The Realities of EDSA: What are the things we cannot argue about? 1. Response to twenty years of Marcos Misrule Dictatorship It was a desperate attempt by millions of people to try to bring down autocracy 2. EDSA could not have been possible if not for a failed military coup that leads to a call to popular support From civil society and the Catholic Church What the coup failed to do, it allowed for people to channel their frustration and order but not to establish a junta but to establish a democracy 3. Coalition government included both political left and right It was a wide coalition which normally would not occur but a lot of groups were anti-Marcos So, this coalition was unstable 4. EDSA was also about the restoration of democratic institutions: Freedom of the press, Local and congressional elections, Framing of the 1987 constitution 5. Cory received overwhelming international respect and support Memorialization of Martial Law 2 Cory was also able to speak in front of the US Congress and later the UN The PPR was a presentation of popular demonstration 6. Creation of the Presidential Commission on Good Government 7. Creation of Commission of Human Rights The Problems of EDSA 1. Rebuilding the nation hampered by the legacy of Marcos and Cory’s own political inexperience The PH economy took a serious nose dive, in terms of inflation, foreign debt, unemployment, devaluation of the peso We lost so much of our manpower, money, and reserves Cory had to work against these barriers It did not help that Cory was politically inexperienced, a lot of her promises were exacerbated to comprehend by her own limitations There were many mistakes made even when she meant well 2. Economic recovery suffered from failed coup threats, 1990 earthquake in Luzon, and the 1991 Pinatubo explosion 3. Return of traditional politicians prevented passing of vital legislation Many lost their power during Martial Law or many wanted to keep their power True land reform or against political dynasties were denied A lot of what Cory can do, pass it to Congress and the Congress only work towards what they want 4. Nevertheless, peaceful transition of power completed in 1992 Restored to the PH the right to choose our own leader This was Cory’s last legacy The Lies of EDSA 1. Prior to 2010, no Marcos had won a national elections Memorialization of Martial Law 3 There was been an effort to exacerbate the failures of the Cory administration and continued when P-noy took power On the other hand, an over exaggeration of the accomplishments of the Marcoses 2. Systematic buildup began in the years approaching the 2016 elections There are many sites showing very false claims that are easy to believe in Today, these claims are still being used These are lies during the martial law of how prosperous the PH Is during Marcos’ time 3. Extensive propaganda in social media These are shared by sites and controlled by the same social media There are a lot of likes, comments, and shares There are attempts to debunk these, but they do not argue but instead just continue to post these information The legacy of EDSA has been demolished just for the private interests of other people 4. Downplaying or outright denying of the horrors of martial law These was the part of the build up of historical revisionism in order to control public opinion Example: Marcos and Enrile interview in 2018 Since EDSA, social media and that attempt to control the narrative has increased and attempts to reduce that manipulation has been very difficult The Challenges to Memory 1. We have a history of selective remembering When we had have something unfortunate happen to us, we would rather not deal with painful moments in history Our habit is end up praising the very people that have hurt us Memorialization of Martial Law 4 Example: Filipinos praise the Americans for bringing us democracy, elections, English, etc. We praise our colonizers and downplay the hardships Filipinos endured during these colonization 2. Not very critical of historical claims on social media We do not check whether or not social media is accurate 3. Very slow grind of justice and recovery of hidden wealth Much has been recovered BUT much still needs to be recovered There have been victories in court of people who suffered under martial law BUT justice is slow Logic: Because there are no court sessions about the human rights abuses, then there are no human rights abuses 4. Not only have the Marcoses never really left Bongbong and Marcos were not teens, there were in their 20s and knew what was happening It is hard to talk about the martial law because the Marcoses are back and the dictator have been buried a hero There have been forks in memory because there has been effort to undo the memory of EDSA and how far we have gone 5. Frustrations with traditional politics raises the appeal of populism despite the failures of the current government If the traditional does not work, we should turn to populism → this is the way memory is downplayed EDSA in Hindsight 1. EDSA’s spontaneity prevented strategic planning and setting realistic objectives There was no room for strategies or planning Memorialization of Martial Law 5 It was an hour by hour, day by day EDSA did not have a clear objective 2. People Power took place during a very critical, unstable moment in history The communists were very strong We were on the brink of a civil war Everything was compounded by the fact that we were in a very difficult and unstable place in history Everything that was done was mostly knee-jerk 3. Unrealistic hopes of immediate reforms doomed to fail Change almost always comes very slowly The aftermath of EDSA is no exception, immediate reforms were doomed to fail 4. Obvious disappointments with EDSA’s aftermath has lead to unfair historical judgement of the event itself 5. Ironically, the very values fought for at EDSA are rejected today Example: EDSA was fought for human rights, during the war on drugs, human rights have gone out the door Example: EDSA fought for freedom of press, during the war on drugs, it is heavily repressed How much power does a president really have? And we challenge to answer these today The question: Did we really succeed in EDSA? Beyond 35 1. The values we cherish most appear in what we choose to remember and forget What are we really about as a people? Memorialization of Martial Law 6 The fact that we only have a few martial law museums speak volumes or a full length movie about the accounts of EDSA itself speaks volumes Often times, we need to see what values do we want 2. Not resiliency, but recognition of the problem; not acceptance, but assertion of what must be done We should talk about, what is the problem that is keeping us resilient? Ask what has not been solved since EDSA 3. Not to be bound, but to be freed and empowered We are people who like to say “bahala na,” instead of looking at what have limited us, rather we need to look at what moments show that we are not bound by history “I will find a way to be more, that the status quo would be change. That history will only repeat itself, only if we let it” When we look at the PPR, we should in fact be empowered Let the system not be forget, so the people will not forget Never forget, Never again Proper appreciation for EDSA for what it was, and not what it was not It was a spontaneous movement to bring down a dictator It was NOT supposed to be a change all, an improve all, right now right here EDSA brought down a dictatorship, bring back a democracy, and a constitution that would limit power Reclaim the narrative Remember our history Claim our future If we will remain silent of what has happened, someone else will speak for us, we need to reclaim our narrative Memorialization of Martial Law 7 Memorialization of Martial Law 8