2,000 protesters gather in UP Diliman for 48th Martial Law anniversary

More than 2,000 protesters trooped to the University of the Philippines-Diliman on Monday to mark the 48th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, the start of the late Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship.

According to Katrina Son's report on "24 Oras," among the organizations that joined the protest was the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, who denounced the similarities between President Rodrigo Duterte's administration and the Marcos dictatorship.

"Ito ay paggunita doon sa kasaysayan na paglaban ng mamamayang Pilipino laban sa diktadurya ni Marcos at para sa demokrasya," Teddy Casiño of Bayyan said.

"Ito rin ay pagbibigay ng babala na nauulit ang kasaysayan sa ilalim ni Duterte at mukhang ang layon ni Pangulong Duterte ay itayo ang isang bagong diktadurya sa ilalim ng kaniyang administrasyon," he added.

The organizers said most of those who joined the protest were youths.

"Nandito po kami dahil kailangan at nakikita po ng kabataan ang napakaraming kasamaan na nangyayari sa ating lipunan," one of the protesters said.

While they did gather to remember the start of the dictatorship, the protesters nevertheless strictly observed social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on government records, at least 3,000 people were killed and over 70,000 others were imprisoned for opposing Martial Law.

Marcos and his family were ousted from power on February 25, 1986 after three days of the bloodless People Power Revolution.

Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989 where the family lived in exile. His surviving family members, however, were allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991 by then-President Corazon Aquino.

Aquino's son, former President Benigno Aquino III later signed the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act into law in 2012.

The law mandated that the Philippine government compensate the victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law years using the P10 billion ill-gotten wealth of the late dictator and his family retrieved by the government from a Swiss bank. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News