“The new generation must be made aware of the truth”
WITH a new secretary of education appointed and a new school opening up, it would do well for President Marcos Jr. to have certain events in Philippine history put in their proper perspective.
One aspect of our Philippine history that has to be put in proper context is the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.
There is also the three-day breakaway of then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, then Army Lt. Col. Gringo Honasan and Constabulary chief Fidel Ramos that led to the so-called 1986 People Power Revolution and to the exile of Marcos Sr. to Hawaii.
I’m sure Secretary Sonny Angara will agree with me that certain parts of the current history books needed correction.
There’s need to put in black and white why Marcos Sr, had to declare the emergency.
He was then besieged by the rising tide of communism which had infiltrated almost all sectors of society, media, the academe, business, labor unions, and even, Congress itself.
He was facing the mounting separatist movement of heavily armed Muslim groups led by the Muslim Islamic Liberation Front.
It was incumbent for him to resort to Martial Law as provided by the 1935 Constitution that, in case of invasion, rebellion, and when public safety demands, it is imperative for the president to declare it.
If he did not do it, the Philippines would have become a communist country and civil war would have ensued, my gulay!
It was true there were also abuses by the military and atrocities committed especially on suspected people aligned with the communist movement.
There were allegations the Marcoses and their cronies amassed ill-gotten wealth which made then President Cory Aquino create the Presidential Commission on Good Government to go after hidden wealth.
Just how much the PCGG recovered, reports say it was measly compared to allegations.
For these I believe there is a need to abolish the PCGG which is no longer relevant.
The three-day breakaway of a movement called RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement) must also be placed in its proper perspective.
RAM’s breakaway from the AFP was not intended against Marcos Sr., but against then Chief of Staff Fabian Ver who had organized a junta headed by himself in the event Marcos Sr., then suffering from a critical ailment, died.
Then Defense Secretary Enrile told me RAM, which he headed , was a movement against Ver.
When Marcos Sr. called up JPE over the telephone to ask the latter what happened, JPE told Marcos Sr. RAM was not intended against him but against Ver.
On the second day of that breakaway, RAM installed Cory Aquino, ironically never near the RAM that was encamped at Camp Crame, but was hiding in the Pink Sisters Convent.
This was followed by the gathering of over half a million members of civil society in Metro Manila, romanticized by the press and anti-Marcos elements as the People Power Revolution at a time when the population was 56 million.
Neither was it a “revolution” because Aquino’s presidency was not the changing of government, but of a regime.
Aquino became the darling of the western press, to the extent that even Time Magazine had her on its cover as the “icon of democracy.” How can she be when she had nothing to do with the break-away?
I see the need for the DepEd Secretary to make an effort to have these events placed in their proper perspective.
Seeing the mood of the over 500,000 people gathering at EDSA, the Americans, to protect the Marcos family, had them airlifted by helicopter and brought to Clark Air Base, then to Andersen Air Base in Guam then to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, arriving there on Feb. 26, 1986.
On Sept. 7, 1993, his remains – he died in 1989 – were flown back to Laoag, Ilocos Norte’s provincial capital, via Guam and then brought to his hometown of Batac.
He was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Nov. 18, 2016.
The new generation must be made aware of the truth, my gulay!
