21 Years Ago

Twenty one years ago this Sunday, Filipinos became a proud race after they ousted a dictator who ruled the country for more than 20 years, 14 years of which were under martial law.

Ruled by the barrels of guns, Filipinos could only say yes and amen to the dictates of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his generals. Those who dared to say no and defied him, including the late Senators Benigno Aquino and Jose Diokno and many others who included journalists, were thrown into cold prison cells. Worse, many were also tortured and summarily killed, if not made to disappear without a trace. Those were the days when we first heard of extrajudicial killing, which the military termed as “salvaging.”

The critical situation at that time prompted many youths to become activists. Some chose the extreme – they went underground and took up arms.

When Marcos was finally ousted through what has become popularly known as the EDSA Revolution (which others say was actually a people-backed military revolt), many Filipinos thought the country would become a paradise regained. We all were upbeat about our country and its future as we were able to elect our officials and as the press regained its freedom.

But after four presidents took turns to govern us, the ghost of martial law apparently continues to haunt and hound us. We thought extrajudicial killings, for example, were things inherent only under a military regime. But these continue up to now when we are supposed to be more concerned about democracy, responsible governance, and civil liberties.

The European Union, international human rights groups and church organizations, and the UN are now alarmed about how human life has become cheap in this country as activists, journalists, church workers and judges are being eliminated from the face of the earth. The Philippines now ranks second to Iraq, as the most dangerous place for journalists. Just recently, a community editor from southern Philippines was shot to death while taking his early morning coffee. He was the 50^th journalists to be killed since 2001.

Charges of libel also continue to send chills in the spines of many journalists, who dared to expose what the public needed to know about the shenanigans and excesses of some top guns in government.

That extrajudicial killings and threats to journalists continue under a supposed democracy only shows that the country, to paraphrase UN human rights special rapporteur Philip Alston, still has a very long way to go.

So instead of celebrating the return of democracy through that People Power Revolution in 1986, we now have confused and mixed feelings. The difficult and dangerous situation we are in prompts us to extend our mourning and grieving, which we thought ended in February 1986. We still have a very long way to go, indeed.