[From the web] PDI features #rememberML@40

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Human Rights Online Philippines One comment

Reposting two articles from Philippine Daily Inquirer featuring #rememberML@40 campaign. Read on…

Editorial
The duty to remember
Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 20th, 2012

The 40TH anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of martial law is fast approaching. There is not much fanfare, which is understandable considering that it was a dark chapter in our history that can be evoked only with anxiety and trepidation. The official neglect of the commemoration is worrisome, however, because it suggests that the state, which was complicit in the dictatorship to which martial law gave rise, has yet to fully consolidate as a restored democracy. Military adventurism, corruption in the military and the police, human rights violations, and the insurgencies and conflicts that martial law helped engender are still with us.

To some extent democracy remains tenuous, and certain sectors of society still look back at the dictatorship with nostalgia. Young Filipinos are being brought up without an appreciation of the dire lessons of history. Indeed, the horrors of martial law are glossed over in our history schoolbooks. Thankfully, there are a number of private-sector attempts to commemorate the grim era that began in September 1972.

Last Saturday, the art exhibit “ReCollection 1081: Clear and Present Danger (Visual Dissent on Martial Rule)” opened at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Bulwagang Juan Luna and Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino. Organized by the Liongoren Gallery and the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (Canvas), it is part of “Piglas,” a series of art events at the CCP to mark the 40th anniversary of the declaration of martial law. Among the participating artists are National Artist BenCab, Alfredo Liongoren, Pablo Baens Santos, Edgar Talusan Fernandez, Orlando Castillo, Al Manrique, José Tence Ruiz, Renato Habulan, Brenda Fajardo, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Antipas Delotavo, Jaime de Guzman, Anna Fer, and Edicio de la Torre.

Some of the works on exhibit were made during martial law. De la Torre, a former priest, was one of those who went underground during the Marcos regime, and two of his works in the exhibit were done inside his prison cell in Camp Bago Bantay. BenCab’s contribution to the exhibit is an original piece done during martial law but set against a reworked digital drawing of the same work.

The show is an attempt to provide diverse perspectives on that dark chapter, conveying these to audiences through various media and genre styles, which overall should allow those who lived during that time to reminisce and those who live vicariously through them to sift through the raw material and heed the lessons therein. “It should not stop at this,” said Norma Liongoren of the Liongoren Gallery, who was herself an anti-Marcos activist. “This is only the beginning. This is why museums are important. I believe that we should have permanent visual exhibitions that would impart knowledge on significant events in Philippine history accurately.”

Meanwhile, the book “Tibak Rising: Activism in the Days of Martial Law” will be launched today at 4 p.m. at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Put out by Anvil Publishing and the UP National College of Public Administration, the anthology consists of personal memoirs by political activists.

And then there’s #rememberML@40, which young Filipinos themselves have organized. Organizations in a number of colleges and universities have banded together to launch the information campaign for the benefit of the youth who are generally ignorant of the painful chapter in our past that has yet to see closure and just resolution. The organizers weren’t yet around during the Marcos dictatorship, so they struggle vicariously to remember and learn. “It is hard to fight for something that you did not experience firsthand, so we want the youth to remember and never forget,” said Nolivee Barrido, a student leader from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, A good corrective to that, he said, would be to gun for 40,000 “likes” or approving clicks on a Facebook page dedicated to the dark era’s victims and unsung heroes, as well as related information.

It is gratifying that tech-savvy young Filipinos are making use of the social media to raise awareness about martial law and Philippine history as a guard against the treacheries of a short memory. The nation as a whole should learn from them. Out of the mouths of babes comes the reminder that it’s watchful remembering that will make possible our survival as a democracy and as a nation.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/33035/the-duty-to-remember

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Never too young to remember: Youths ‘like’ martial law heroes
By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 17th, 2012

To refresh the memory of younger Filipinos about the country’s experience under martial law during the Marcos regime, several youth groups are gunning for 40,000 “likes” or approving clicks on a Facebook page dedicated to the dark era’s unsung heroes.

In a press conference Tuesday, organizations from different colleges and universities launched an information campaign dubbed “#rememberML@40.”

They aim to get 40,000 likes on their #rememberML@40 Facebook which will feature stories about martial law victims, fact sheets and other related information which younger Filipinos may no longer be familiar with.

Nolivee Barrido, a student leader from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), pointed out the importance of having the younger generation remember what happened during martial law.
He noted that students like him were not yet even born during that period, when the thousands of political activists and opposition leaders were jailed, tortured or killed, press freedom was suppressed and democratic institutions were made subservient to the iron-fisted rule of then President Ferdinand Marcos.

“It is hard to fight for something that you did not experience firsthand, so we want the youth to remember and never forget,” Barrido said.

“The 40,000 ‘likes’ stand for the 40th anniversary of martial law on Sept. 21. Kids today barely know anything about it, and yet they should because it’s an episode in our past which must never happen again,” said Egay Cabalitaan of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines.

The information campaign, he said, would also feature show biz personalities who have committed to making sure that martial law will be remembered four decades later. These include recording artists Jim Paredes, Sharon Cuneta, Noel Cabangon, TV personality Lourd de Veyra and comedian Tado Jimenez, among others.

They will be featured making the so-called “pinky pledges,” with a red ribbon tied to their pinkies. “It will be like the pinky swear of friends who promise to stand by each other. We also promise to inform and inspire others with the sacrifices of martial law’s unsung heroes,” Cabalitaan added.

The youth network will also conduct campus tours featuring photo exhibits, forums that serve as “storytelling sessions,” and related activities leading to Sept. 21, the day then President Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial rule in 1972.

Representing the campus groups were student leaders Barrido of PLM, Shaina Santiago, UP Diliman student council chair Heart Dino and vice chair Alex Castro, and Alvin Quintas of the Center for Youth Advancement Network.

The campaign network is made up of at least 31 student and youth groups from UP, PLM, De La Salle University, University of Makati, and local communities in Quezon City, Manila and nearby provinces.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/230492/never-too-young-to-remember-youths-%E2%80%98like%E2%80%99-martial-law-heroes

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