Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos winning the vice presidency would be a “dangerous vantage position” to reimpose martial law, a militant lawmaker said on Sunday.
Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares feared that if Marcos wins the vice presidency, he will be one step closer away from the presidency.
“One important impact of Bongbong Marcos winning the vice presidency is he is just one step away from the presidency,” Colmenares siad in a video published on YouTube.
READ: To young Filipinos who never knew martial law and dictatorship
The lawmaker, who is running for Senator in the May 9 elections, criticized the son of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos for his defense of martial law, saying that he may repeat the deeds of his father.
“Anyone who believes that martial law is great has the capacity to impose it once he is faced with the same situation that Marcos had during Martial Law,” said Colmenares, who claimed that he was tortured during the regime of the older Marcos.
Colmenares claimed that he was just 18 years when he was arrested and tortured physically and mentally. He was in prison for four years.
“Tumutorture sila (They torture) for the fun of it,” he said.
He also recounted being forced to witness a naked man being tortured with his hands tied.
“At that time I was at the forefront of demanding for the return of student councils and school papers. Nilagay nila ‘yung isang tao sa mesa na di ko kilala. Hinubaran nila. itinali nila. Tapos nilagyan nila ng alambre ang kanyang penis, so di nanonood ako. I was an 18-year-old kid, tapos sasabihin nila ako sunod,” he said.
(At that time I was at the forefront of demanding for the return of student councils and school papers. They dragged a stranger onto a table, undressed him and tied him. They wired his penis as they forced me to watch them. I was 18 then, and they told me that I was next.)
“They feel exuberant if they could (have a) sway over the life and death of a person,” he added.
Colmenares lamented that the Filipinos tortured, imprisoned, and killed during Martial Law would be buried in the consciousness of the public.
“Napakalungkot ‘pag kinalimutan natin ang maraming namatay, maraming nakulong maraming natorture, at maraming nagdusa. So ang danger diyan is the amnesia,” he said.
(It’s going to be disappointing if we forget the many who died, who were imprisoned, who were tortured, and those who suffered. The danger there is the amnesia.)
READ: Martial law victims to hound Bongbong Marcos at veep debate
Marcos, who has emerged as a frontrunner in the vice presidential race, said he won’t apologize to those who claimed they were victimized during the regime of his father.
READ: Marcos not apologizing for martial-law abuses means non-acceptance–Robredo
He earlier claimed that the general sentiment of the people was that life was better during the administration of his father. IDL