Manila Mayor Isko Moreno in Maguindao. (Photo from his Facebook)
COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao, Philippines — Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, a presidential candidate, reminded voters in Maguindanao on Sunday of the hardships of martial law in 1970s.
“Don’t forget who killed your kin. Remember that,” Moreno said in Filipino as the crowd attending his rally at the town proper of Buluan in Maguindanao cheered.
“We know how bloody it was in 1974-1981 in the lives of Muslims in Mindanao. For some of you, your grandfathers, siblings could not be found until now,” he added.
Maguindanao province has a predominantly Muslim population.
Moreno was referring to then-President Ferdinand Marcos, the late father of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., one of Moreno’s rivals in the presidential race.
Allegations of human rights abuses were rife as thousands of activists went missing or were killed during the rule of Marcos, who declared martial law in 1972.
The Marcos family also added to the general hardship of Filipinos by taking for their own use billions of dollars from state coffers.
The elder Marcos was kicked out of the country by the People Power Revolt in 1986 and died while in exile in Hawaii in 1989. His wife, Imelda, and children were allowed to fly home three years later and started trying to rehabilitate the family name.
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