‘Never again, never forget’, torture victim urges amid fears Philippines’ Marcos will repeat father’s human rights atrocities
- Propaganda portrays late Marcos Snr reign as ‘golden era’, but activists fight attempts to gloss over widespread abuse and corruption during dictatorship
- Marcos Jnr has refused to acknowledge and apologise for the abuses under his father’s rule. ‘Never again, never forget, continue the fight’, survivor says
Human rights activists on Thursday launched a new campaign in the Philippines to prevent a repeat of the abuses and plunder of the martial-law era that began 50 years ago under the father of the country’s new president, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.
Pro-Marcos propaganda has portrayed the late president’s reign as a “golden era.” But the activists said in a news conference they would fight efforts by Marcos Jnr and his supporters to gloss over the widespread human rights atrocities and corruption committed under the elder Marcos’ dictatorship.
He imposed martial law in the Philippines in September 1972 and finally was ousted in a 1986 army-backed “People Power” pro-democracy uprising.
His family returned home from US exile in 1991 and accomplished an astonishing political comeback that culminated with the landslide victory of his son in the May presidential race. Marcos Jnr took office on June 30.
He has steadfastly refused to acknowledge and apologise for the abuses under his father’s rule. There was no immediate comment from Marcos Jnr or his key advisers after Thursday’s news conference.
“The reign of the Marcoses was never a golden era,” the activists said in a joint statement. “Unmasking what it really was and underscoring its bitter lessons is urgent and extremely necessary because of the continuing disinformation and organised distortion of history with the government’s official imprimatur.”