UPLB remembers martial law victims ahead of 46th commemoration

At least a hundred students, faculty, and employees of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, attend a program honoring victims of martial law, at the Hagdan ng Malayang Kamalayan on Wednesday afternoon. INQUIRER PHOTO/KIMMY BARAOIDAN/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

Faculty and students from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) pay tribute to the victims of martial law.

Cultural presentations and tributes “in honor of the victims” were lined up for the 5:30 p.m. program on Wednesday in the event dubbed “Araw ng Paggunita sa mga Biktima ng Martial Law,” said UPLB Social Science Department chair Dwight Diestro.

Among those to deliver short talks were lawyer and Martial Law activist Filemon Nolasco and visual artist Emmanuel Garibay.

Diestro said students would also speak in memory of activists Liliosa Hilao, Macli-ing Dulag, and Melito Glor, after whom the New People’s Army command in Southern Tagalog was named.

“Never again, let us not allow a repeat of it,” Diestro said of the state atrocities committed after Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 21, 1972.

The Social Science Department has rolled out activities leading to the 46th martial law anniversary on Friday. In August, the department also held public screenings of documentaries about martial law.

Diestro, who himself is joining protests in Manila on Friday, said student organizations have also prepared for activities, like a forum and a series of testimonies, at the UPLB on Friday.

In a phone interview prior to the 5:30 p.m. program, Diestro said they expected a “good turn out” despite heavy rains in Los Baños noting that this year’s freshmen, who happened to be the first batch of graduates of the government’s K-12 program, “appear to be enthusiastic” in attending discussions about martial law.

He said the department was merely adhering to the proclamation issued early this week by UP President Danilo Concepcion that declares every September 21 as a “UP Day of Remembrance” in honor of the university’s contributions to fight dictatorship and despotism./lb