By DELIA BAGNI and NOEL GODINEZ
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Keeping true to their promise, survivors of the martial law atrocities hounded the campaign sortie of Senator Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late dictator.

AS PROMISED. Keeping true to their promise to hound the son of the late dictator, anti-martial law activitists launched their Baguio campaign by placing a big streamer at the Marcos Bust in Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet. The Marcos Bust at Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet has long been a symbol of the Marcos dictatorship in Northern Luzon. Photo by Noel Godinez

As Bongbong Marcos brings his vice-presidential campaign to Baguio City, the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (CARMMA) reminds the people of the North to never forget martial law, and to say No to Bongbong Marcos, said Joanna K. Cariño, chair of Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto – Northern Luzon and convenor of CARMMA-Baguio.

According to Cariño, Bongbong “refuses to apologize for the sins not only of his father but of his own family. It was a conjugal dictorship and he was a part of the Marcos family that was the dictatorship.”

Cariño said that during the martial law around 30,000 were illegally arrested, detained and tortured while around 3,000 were extrajudicially killed. The wealth of the nation was plundered and Marcos left the country with 27 billion dollars in debt.

Furthermore, Bongbong denies what his father did. He is benefiting from all of their ill-gotten wealth which he is using in his current campaign for the vice-presidency, explained Cariño.

During the first day of Bongbong’s campaign sortie in Baguio, CARMMA went to the Marcos Bust in Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet and placed a big streamer which reads “No to Bongbong Marcos. Never again to Martial Law.” The Marcos Bust at Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet has long been a symbol of the Marcos dictatorship in Northern Luzon.

NO SOLID NORTH. Martial Law survivors and student activists greet Bongbong Marcos with protest putting in question the myth of the solid north of the Marcoses. Photo courtesy of Marc Mediola

Cariño recalled that during the martial law period, Ferdinand Marcos built a huge bust of his face along the mountainside of Taloy Sur, ala Mt. Rushmore. The land of the people of Taloy Sur was grabbed to make way for the Marcos Park with the bust overlooking the cottages, golf course and other structures, she added.

After the EDSA 1 uprising and the fall of the dictatorship, the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) met with then President Corazon Aquino, and among the demands that were met was the return of the land to the people of Taloy Sur, said Cariño.

She recalled that there was a big celebration at the Marcos Park and the bust was festooned with streamers proclaiming the success of the people’s struggle against the dictatorship.

In 2002, the bust was exploded as a rejection of the people of the North of the Marcos dictatorship.

CARMMA together with progressive groups also picketed the forum where Bongbong was one of the speakers at Saint Louis University (SLU).

According to CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget, the solid north for the Marcos’s is just a myth. people should not be swayed and believe that Bongbong Marcos will be a good leader beacuse he is a part of the dictatorship that made thousands of people suffer. The Cordillera and the whole north are calling for a solid north against Marcos.

Tracy Dumalo added that students are one of the biggest contributors to social change they should not believe in the promises of Marcos development and change that has not been significant in his long stay with government since his return from his family’s exile. Instead, he has figured in the misuse of PDAF with other members of congress and the senate He even denied his participation in the dictatorship where he was appointed by his father to a position in government.

SOLID NORTH AN ILLUSION. Survirors of the martial law and students greets Bongbong Marcos vice presidential campaign with a protest Never Again to Martial Law. Photo by Noel Godinez

She added that its not because we never experienced martial law we are exempted from it. People should learn from the lessons brought by martial law.

According to Cariño, Bongbong is just a stone’s throw away from Malacañang and is even leading in the surveys. This should be a concern for all freedom and democracy loving individuals, look back to the horrors of Martial Law and ensure that not another Marcos be placed in Malacañang. # nordis.net