Martial Law

Library of Gnidrah The East Pacific Archive
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Folks, I don’t like bringing politics up much. It sucks and is exhausting, and frankly I don’t have the stomach for it. But today, just for today, I need to say something.

Today, September 21st, 2022, is the 50th year anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. On September 21st, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, declaring Martial Law here in the Philippines. All media services were shot down, and several members who opposed Marcos were arrested, such as Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and Maximo Soliven. In just 1 day, 1/4 of the targeted people were arrested and sent to Camp Crame.

In the meantime, the military suppressed all mass media, cancelled all outgoing flights, and stopped all international calls. Those arrested who called for habeas corpus were denied.

All this, ordered by one man who sought absolute power. 3,275 extra-judicial killings were done by the orders of one man.

The Marcos Era was a slap in the face of democracy. They bent the rules of government and gained followers all for their own benefit. They lied, and stole, and cheated for their own gain. We have had an estimate of 10 billion dollars stolen by the Marcoses alone, and we’ve only gotten back 4 billion back.

And now, we have Marcos Jr., back in the presidency. Now, history is being rewritten. Now, we have people who believe that the Marcos Regime was a good thing, that it boosted our power, which it didn’t. History is being rewritten, and honestly? It’s terrifying.

It is important to note as to how Marcos gained that power. Of course, he had supporters; no man rules alone after all.
However, the trigger of the event is an ambush done on the Secretary of Defense. In response to this, Marcos declared Martial Law “for the peace and security of his empire”. Hmmm, this sounds familiar. I wonder where we got that from?

The Marcos Regime fell when the People Power Revolution happened, the first nonviolent revolution that has occured. Occuring from February 22 to 25, 1986, the People Power Revolution occured as a response to 3 different triggers: 1st, Martial Law, Second, election impropriety during the 1986 snap election, 3rd, the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. In response to this, around 2 million people marched to EDSA, and protested against the Marcos Regime. Eventually, the Military abandoned Marcos, and he was forced to flee.

I’m not sure how to end this post. With hope? With despair? I’m not even sure why I wrote it. Perhaps I fear that the same thing may happen again. That somehow, the Marcos Regime re-enters, and I am cut off, unable to ask for help. Perhaps I hope that this message can reach other people and give a basic explanation of why the Marcos Regime was so bad. Who knows.

All I know is that this must never, ever happen again. That power must never, under any circumstances, fall into one person’s hands.

I also know that the atrocities of martial law must never be forgotten. And maybe this is my small way of helping the world remember. So remember the tragedies, learn from our past, and never forget. That way, perhaps the souls of those dead or missing may rest easy, knowing that they did not die in vain.

Never forget. Never again.

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P.S. I am not going to claim that everything here is 100% correct. I’m sure that some details may be wrong, mostly because I didn’t do a lot of research to write this post. It was mostly written in the spur of the moment, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of martial law. I’m still not sure what I’m passionate about, tbh. But this is probably one of them.

Its interesting to note that Marcos had the powers of the Military behind him as he grabbed power. One could even say that it was one of his… Keys to power?

In fact, when the military abandoned him during the EDSA revolution, that’s when his regime came to a close. So…

I’m just saying that CGP Gray’s video ‘The Rules for Rulers’ sure does look really accurate now huh.

Have a great day y’all.

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I am woefully ignorant of many other countries’ affairs and apparently the same with modern history, because I did not know any of this stuff going into it, but with the cycle of masked tyranny in modern history, a very cynical part of me is inclined to declare that I’m not surprised.

Fiction has always emulated fact and, as you noted, it is no ironic coincidence that Sidious and Vader speak the words that real tyrants might, use the same warped justifications. Peace. Security. Order. Star Wars is about fascism in many ways, but that means that it’s about tyranny in many more. Things like this help us to better understand the world, and it is the irony of Star Wars paralleling real world leaders that makes the stark reality of their lies so noticeable. The clarity it gives us is surprising, I think. I am still secretly astonished that these little worlds can tell us so much about the one we find ourselves in. Rules for Rulers is the same, although in a very different way. There is also our rps. I think as we stay on NS longer it becomes less a political simulator and more a political commentary medium. We no longer play roles and parts as our nation(s) but we tell stories. And our stories reflect our fears, and our hopes. That has a certain value that is worth acknowledging.

But speaking to the last issue you bring up. God, some days I feel so worn out by the horrors of this world. “Yesterday we were missing freedom. Today we miss love. I’m afraid of tomorrow for we will miss humanity.” The future is terrifying because it is written by those in power and looking at the kind of people that can and do come into power is disheartening. Sometimes we can only see darkness. We’re right in that, I think, to be afraid of what people can do with power, to be afraid of the future, but I think it’d be wrong to only be afraid. The future will be written and there is far too much possibility for “the bad ending” but there’s value in not giving up “A dreamer is one who can only find is way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”

I think there’s something that humanity in its times of darkness seems to forget too often. We are afraid, we are worried, but that means we care. And when we voice our fears, others voice theirs and that means they care. If people care, then there is always hope of a sort. I saw a tweet that put it in a different perspective as well, which is “They WANT you to lose hope. They WANT you to give up on the system. They WANT you to give in to nihilism and stop trying. Because that’s how they win. Don’t let them win. Have hope like a total idiot. Have an optimism that crushes their stupid dreams. Be better than them.” Hope is resistance, and one thing the stories all emphasize is the importance of resisting.

You ever specifically look for a blue car? In doing so, how many red cars have you noticed? There’s a saying that if your only tool is a hammer than every problem looks like a nail, and I think some perversion of that is relevant here. If everything seems hopeless to you, then hope seems hopeless. And that may make sense looking over it quickly, or thinking it in passing, but it’s oxymoronic. It’s not a salient point to say “hope is hopeless” anymore than it is to say “war is peace” or “freedom is slavery.” And like these taglines, hopelessness is a tool of oppression. Do your best to sidestep it, and when you can’t, go to something that reminds you of hope. A quote, or a story.

Am I stupid for saying this? That is a distinct possibility. Are my words cringe in the first degree? Probably. Do I believe this all the time? Hell no. Does that invalidate my point? I don’t think so. Not because if it’s not true I’m dumb so it better be true, but because if it’s not true than the world is doomed so it better be true. Y’know? That “fuck it” kind-of hope? That. It’s becoming easier and easier for me to find it nowadays. Two hours ago I was WALLOWING. Look at me now.