A youth group on Tuesday recalled the cruelty suffered by two students under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos as they marked the 30th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution on the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City.
Members of Akbayan Youth donned masks of Archimedes Trajano and Liliosa Hilao, while the face of Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.—who is seeking the vice presidency—was put on the see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil monkey trio.
“We have another Marcos candidate in our midst, one that turns a blind eye to the injustices of his father’s regime. We cannot elect and have in the second highest post a leader who sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil of the horrors of martial law,” said Rafaela David, Akbayan Youth chair and Ateneo de Manila University student.
Trajano was a student of Mapua Institute of Technology in 1977 who questioned Imee Marcos’ capability to chair Kabataang Barangay, saying she was appointed to the position because she was the dictator’s daughter.
Witnesses said Trajano was dragged away by Imee’s guards after the forum. According to the case filed in Hawaii by Trajano’s parents, he was tortured and murdered for his political beliefs by police and military personnel.
Hilao, 23, a student of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, was the first documented student activist who died in detention during martial law. She was taken and tortured by soldiers in 1973.
The Constabulary said she committed suicide but a postmortem report showed she bore cigarette burns, injection marks and her torso was badly bruised.
Noting that the country’s population has risen to 100 million compared with 40 million during martial law, David said two out of three Filipinos had not experienced the atrocities of martial law.
The youth group has been mounting democracy and human rights exhibits in various schools to raise awareness on the horrors of martial law as well as the heroism of Filipinos during that time.
“We’re hoping to bring it to more schools. This year, we plan to put it up in some areas of Mindanao and the Visayas. And places where there is strong support for Bongbong, so we will also go north,” David said.
The exhibit also features the ingenuity of the student movement, such as placing anti-Marcos placards on cats roaming the UP Diliman campus.
An exhibit display says Bongbong had a direct hand in trying to withdraw $213 million in ill-gotten wealth from his family’s Swiss bank account in 1986.
The exhibit also said an angry mob was sent to harass the Beatles on their way to the airport after the band members failed to attend a reception in Malacañang.