Martial law victim: Paano kakalimutan kung wala namang hustisya?

A political prisoner during the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos said that he and others like him could move on without justice being given to human rights victims under martial law.

"Alam kong ibig nilang sabihin, ang ibig nilang sabihin kalimutan na namin. Pero papaano kakalimutan kung wala namang hustisya? Paano magpapatawad kung yung mga gumawa ng kasalanan ay wala namang remorse, walang repentance?" Bonifacio "Boni" Ilagan said in an interview on GMA News TV's "News To Go."

"Alam mo we're moving on, at ang pag-mo-move on namin ay ang paghingi [at] pagpapatuloy na makamtam ang hustisya. Ang gusto namin ihayag ay magmove on na rin yung mga bumabaligtad ng kasaysayan, magmove on sila sa pamamagitan ng pagsasantabi na ng kanilang grandiyosong plano na bumalik sa kapangyarihan," Ilagan added.

Ilagan, who was imprisoned for two years, was a student in the University of the Philippines when Marcos proclaimed martial law on September 21, 1972.

His sister, Rizalina was among the desaparecidos – Filipinos who just disappeared – during the dictatorship.

Ilagan currently serves as the vice chairman of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), a human rights organization formed by ex-detainees during martial law.

Meanwhile, Ilagan also lamented how text books for students do not tell enough stories about human rights victims.

"Maraming textbooks ang aking pinagaralan, ilang pahena lamang at hindi pa tama ang pagkakasalaysay, 'yun ang nakakalungkot eh for the longest time hinayaan nung mga nakaraang administrasyon after Marcos na mabaligtad ang kasaysayan," Ilagan said. —NB, GMA News