Pimentel: Kin of martial law victims, survivors deserve explanation

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III (File photo from Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — The families of over 3,000 Filipinos slain during martial law and other victims of atrocities under the Marcos dictatorship deserve an explanation on why their loved ones were killed and suffered injustices, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said on Tuesday.

“People were killed, injured, disappeared, and detained for no reason,” said Pimentel, whose late father and namesake, former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., was among the prominent opposition figures imprisoned during martial law, which was declared 50 years ago today by former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“I think the victims, if they are still alive, and their families all deserve at least an explanation as to what happened to their [family members],” he said.

Asked how the Marcos family should feel on the 50th anniversary of martial law, the opposition senator said: “I don’t know … On the victims’ side, I know how we felt.”

Dark period

For Sen. Risa Hontiveros, it was “not enough that we remember” the dark period as she exhorted the public to fight attempts to play down the human rights abuses committed during the iron-hand rule of Marcos Sr.

“We bellow ‘Never Again’ because Filipinos are still suffering from the deep wounds brought by the countless deaths, abuses, and injustices during those dark years,” Hontiveros said.

“We cry out ‘Never Forget’ because our various media forms have become avenues of shameless lies and propaganda, infecting the very fabric of our institutions and collective identity,” she added.

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