My mother was hiding from the military during the build-up to the declaration of Martial Law, around this time 40 years ago. She was not allowed to see us because it would expose her whereabouts and ultimately risk the exposure of her comrades as well. But she was a mother and a wife, and she had to see her family. Mama got caught and eventually tortured because she defied the rules and decided to be with us, even if it was just for a little while. 

These would’ve been wonderful ways to begin a real – and new – discussion about Martial Law and artmaking. But no. Instead what we are treated to here is a hodgepodge of works thrown together, sometimes thematically, sometimes chronologically, which could only leave the spectator half-confused, half-tired from having to go through so much art with nary a sense of its rationale.

Even as the lives of many overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have significantly improved due to higher wages abroad, the success stories are often outweighed by dangers and threats — from physical abuse to racial discrimination to getting trapped in war-torn countries.

President Benigno Aquino III admitted on Friday, the 40th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, that the sight of his father’s bloodied corpse on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport in 1983 made him think of vengeance.

Apat na dekada na ang nakaraan mula noong idineklara ang Martial Law, ngunit nananatiling buhay sa alaala ng mga biktima ang kalupitang dinanas sa ilalim ng kamay na bakal ng rehimeng Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Ed Mora has been drying coconut meat to make copra since he was 10, helping his father tend their six-hectare plantation in Quezon province. Thirty years later, he is fighting for the fruits of their labor on the streets of Manila.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares was charismatic and jovial when he stood before an audience at the launch of a Martial Law memorial exhibit last Sept. 14. There was nothing cheery, however, when he narrated his ordeal during what he described as the “darkest, most horrible and bloodiest chapter in Philippine history.”

Bongbong Marcos has always been touchy when asked about issues concerning his father's regime, which has been branded as one of the worst times in Philippine history. In a statement posted on his official Facebook fanpage in time for the 40th anniversary of Martial Law, Bongbong urged his family's critics and the Filipino public to "move on" and accept that every administration had its own share of problems.

Back during Martial Law, while First Lady Imelda Marcos would attend events with perfectly coiffed hair, tailored terno, Chanel shoes, and diamond jewelry, activists would be marching on the streets in their batik shirts, Bang Bang jeans, rubber shoes, and tubao kerchiefs.

To several victims of Martial Law, traces of the horrors of the iron rule have continued in the form of human rights violations and abject poverty.

To ensure that only the truth will be told about the Martial Law years, President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to gather stories and experiences of people who lived during the period.

For many young Filipinos right now, Juan Ponce Enrile is known as the veteran political giant who currently leads the Philippine Senate as the chamber's president. But Enrile's influence and involvement in Philippine history runs much deeper — one that spans almost five decades under the administration of five presidents. 

Volunteer organization Rock Ed Philippines, the National Youth Commission, and the Commission on Human Rights have collaborated to create animated video clips highlighting the freedom enjoyed by Filipinos today. The first of the videos debuted on GMA News TV's "News To Go" program on Friday, the 40th anniversary of the proclamation of Martial Law in the country.

For decades, the Philippine government has claimed it does not have a labor export policy, even as the country has become one of the world’s top sources of foreign workers. 

Filipinos in Hong Kong marked the 40th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by gathering together at the Philippine Consulate on Friday.

Forty years after, Philippine forests are still under repair from denudation caused by massive deforestation that started in the Marcos regime.

Ferdinand Marcos envisioned a sanctuary for endangered African wildlife when he had more than a hundred animals from Kenya brought to Palawan's Calauit Island during Martial Law. But instead of thriving, the animals suffered neglect. The project has since become a conflict pitting exotic animals against native islanders, a struggle that persists until today.

Tension marred the site of a Martial Law anniversary event in Quezon City that President Benigno Aquino III was scheduled to attend, after militants and police engaged in a shoving match near the area Friday noon.

Without questioning the importance given Brocka’s and Bernal’s more famous works, those that have come to represent the Martial Law years, here are the films that to me resonate still if not differently, the ones that I go back to and (re-)consider, in relation to our cinematic history in general, Martial Law cinema in particular.

The Martial Law years – considered by many as a dark period in Philippine history – were both “exciting” and “challenging” times, at least in the eyes of incumbent lawmakers who were part of the legislature during that period. Although legislations were instensely discussed, the setup supposedly made the Batasang Pambansa a “rubber stamp” assembly yielding to Marcos’ whims.

Mendiola Bridge (also known as Don Chino Roces Bridge) near Malacañang was closed to traffic Friday morning as militant groups started their demonstrations marking the 40th anniversary of Martial Law.

On the 40th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, a human rights group appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to support the passage of a bill giving compensation to rights victims under Martial Law.

Manila police secured early Friday the Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang and the United States Embassy along Roxas Boulevard amid planned protests by militants to mark the 40th anniversary of Martial Law.

These little-known stories of how art and culture—both highbrow and pop—still thrived in a time of strict authoritarian rule are, if anything, a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of that time.

The exhibit at the CCP features various protest publications – from the alternative press to the underground press, from mass action literature to radical writings. Seeing the yellowed pages and the faded ink, I imagined what it took to create these papers.

In 1971, then-President Ferdinand Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus. My friends and I had a sense that Martial Law would be declared sooner or later – we just did not know when.

The times that I was called to the military camp in Awang to bless the dead prior to their “transport” home had become a single powerful argument against war. The sight of cadavers from 1972 to 1976 lined up as they were being dried after their embalmment revealed the ugly visage and cruelties of war. 

Journalist Ping Galang writes about the struggles he faced as a reporter and editor on an independent newspaper, Business Day, during dictatorial rule. 

As the country marks the 40th anniversary of the declaration of martial law this week, GMA News Online looks at the health and wellness aspects of those dark years, when specialty hospitals flourished while famine stalked impoverished rural villages.

Forty years after, I still remember the Bagong Lipunan lyrics. And I remember other things as well, like how blue the Metrocom police cars were—somewhere between aqua and turquoise, was it?—and how scared people were when they passed by with sirens blaring.