Lest We Forget:
Martial Law and its victims

On September 21, Friday, Filipinos will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. It is a date of remembrance and respect, for the many who braved the Martial Law regime at a time when to do so was seen as sheer madness.

But now, more than ever, it has become a date of fear and foreboding, and it is a fear borne not by the the evils of the past but by the perils of the future. Four decades hence, more and more Filipinos are forgetting the real stories of Martial Law and are leaning more to a revisionist version of history, one that paints the former dictator as the best president the country ever had, and Martial Rule as the best era the country had ever enjoyed. Few, it seems, remember the killings, the mass arrests and wholesale disappearances, the muzzled press and the suppression of the freedom of expression, and the flagrant display of power and wealth. Now, more than ever, our memories have failed us.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has produced a brief documentary built around the stories of five human rights victims during Martial Law. The documentary, titled “Lest We Forget: Martial Law and its victims,” is simply the retelling of five stories by five families; it is by no means meant as a comprehensive retelling of the era of Martial Law. It is, however, a reminder of the dark past that some Filipinos today like to flirt with, to their great peril.

Because of several requests, and for the benefit of those who do not speak Filipino, we have also included below a version of the Martial Law documentary with English subtitles: