Bayan rebuts Marcos Jr.: Martial law unnecessary; your dad just power hungry

Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes. INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO

MANILA, Philippines — Following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s remark in an exclusive interview that his father’s martial law was essential, the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) argued on Wednesday that Marcos Jr. appeared determined to try to distort history.

In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said the President’s narrative that his father, the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., proclaimed martial law to stave off communists and Moro insurgencies has been refuted by history.

Instead, Reyes said that the older Marcos used military rule to do away with the elections and dissolve Congress, putting several powers unto himself from 1972 to 1986.

Instead, Reyes said that from 1972 until 1986, the elder Marcos used military authority to eliminate elections and dissolve Congress, giving himself extensive power.

“On the 50th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. continues to echo the big lie that martial law was necessary for the government to defend itself from the communist and Moro insurgencies. This lie has been discredited by actual historical facts which the Marcos regime now desperately tries to erase,” Reyes said.

“Marcos Sr. used martial law to scrap the elections, extend his term, dissolve Congress and centralize power unto himself, making him dictator from 1972 to 1986. That is not defending the government. This is making government your personal fiefdom, where all power emanates from one man. This, in fact undermined, not defended, government,” he added.

Reyes said that activists and regular people were arrested, incarcerated, and slain despite not being communist rebels or Moro separatists.

In his view, Marcos’ actions were anti-democratic and anti-people because he jailed and imprisoned not just communists or Moro fighters but also opposition leaders, journalists, intellectuals, students, farmers, laborers, and ordinary people.

“Marcos used his absolute control over government to amass ill-gotten wealth estimated to run up to $10 billion. That is not defending the government. That is plundering the government and bankrupting the economy. As of 2021, the Presidential Commission on Good Government has recovered P174 billion from the Marcoses and their cronies,” he added.

On his 65th birthday, an interview of Marcos hosted by staunch supporter and his goddaughter, actress Toni Gonzaga was aired on free television and on YouTube. During the interview, Gonzaga asked the President if he is affected or hurt when news articles refer to him as a “son of a dictator.”

In reply, Marcos said that he is not hurt because he knows the dictator tag imposed on Marcos Sr. is not true, noting that he had seen his father consult sectors before arriving at a decision.

“No, because I know they’re wrong.  How many times have I been here in this room where he was in consultation with different groups?  Ang diktador hindi nagko-konsulta, ang diktador sinasabi na lang niya […] ito ‘yong gagawin niyo sa ayaw at gusto niyo,” Marcos told Gonzaga.

(A dictator doesn’t bother to consult, a dictator just says right away what he wants you to do, whether you like it or not.)

READ: ‘Son of the dictator’ tag doesn’t bother Marcos: ‘I know they’re wrong‘

Marcos also said that history is against his family since it was written by the winners. He was convinced that martial law was necessary because his father was waging two wars.

Marcos Jr. has focused more on image-building than solving the problems of the country, Bayan’s Reyes said.

The Bayan leader said that on the 50th anniversary of martial law, veterans and survivors of the dictatorial era would gather to commemorate the events that shaped the country.

Marcos Sr. ruled for over 20 years in what Bayan described as an administration marred by plunder issues, extrajudicial killings, illegal detention of political opponents, and enforced disappearances.

However, the Marcoses have consistently denied any wrongdoing, insisting that they were wrongly judged as Marcos Sr.’s tenure was the golden age for the country. On one occasion, Marcos Jr. even sought changes in the country’s textbooks as some ill-gotten wealth cases were dropped against them.

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JPV/abc