Malaya Movement USA Marks the 50th Anniversary of Martial Law
50 years ago on September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law, solidifying his authoritarian dictatorship, and unleashed a reign of terror on the Filipino people until he was ousted from power in 1986 during the EDSA People Power Uprising.
Contrary to widespread historical revisionism and deception that claims this was the “golden era of the Philippines”, Marcos Sr. 's rule was marked by widespread unemployment, poverty, crushing debt, and institutionalized corruption amounting to $10 billion dollars of ill-gotten wealth by the Marcoses. Alongside this are grave human rights atrocities with 70,000 Filipinos imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, and more than 3,240 extrajudicially killed.
The Marcos political dynasty has been fully restored to power under the current Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte regime. Now more than ever we must combat the historical revisionism and disinformation by the Marcoses. As we say ‘never forget’, and remember one of the darkest periods in Philippine history, we must continue the fight for genuine democracy, human rights, and sovereignty in the Philippines and reject the Marcos-Duterte Regime.
Ironically, the martial law anniversary coincides with Marcos Jr’s visit to the US to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. This will be Marcos Jr’s debut on the world stage and the first time he is able to set foot in the United States despite the ongoing $353-million contempt judgment by the US District Court in connection with a human rights class suit against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Take Action with Malaya Movement USA during our month long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by:
Attending a local action or event near you: neveragainneverforget.org
Sign onto the Martial Law 50th Commemoration: Unity Statement of Filipinos in the US: tinyurl.com/ml50unitysignon
Plan your own event! Hold a protest, community education event, film screening, or more! View our Martial Law toolkit here for resources: malayamovement.com/ML50
Write statements and create your own social media posts to commemorate the Martial Law Anniversary. Use the hashtags: #ML50 #NeverAgain #NeverForget #TuloyAngLaban
Donate to the Malaya USA Human Rights Defender Fund: tinyurl.com/hrdefendersfund
Join Malaya Movement USA: tinyurl.com/joinmalaya
