PBBM’s silence over Martial Law is deafening – Lagman

By Rhaydz B. Barcia

LEGAZPI CITY --- As the country commemorates the 51st year or Martial Law, Representative Edcel C. Lagman of the 1st District of Albay said that the silence of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., over the declaration of totalitarian government is deafening.

Lagman, said that the ominous silence from the Office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the 51st anniversary of his father’s declaration of martial law is both deafening and revealing.

“It would appear that President Marcos Jr. refuses to acknowledge the very huge elephant in the room – the avarice-tainted and repression-filled years of his father’s misrule that he and his family continue to deny and refuse to atone for,” he said in a statement sent to Bicol Mail.

Historical revisionism and negationism have even creep into our schools with the Department of Education’s September 2023 memorandum mandating the change from “Diktadurang Marcos” to plain “Diktadura” in the Araling Panlipunan syllabus of Grade 6 students, he said.

“We cried ‘Never again!’” to the atrocities and horrors of the tyrannical dictatorship of Marcos Sr, but now state-sanctioned narratives on the “golden era” of martial law flourish in both traditional media and online sites,” he said.

“We cannot alter historical facts. We have a civic duty to be faithful to the truth and promote a culture of remembrance if we really want to come to terms with the disgraceful history of the Marcos Sr dictatorship and honor the men and women who have died; disappeared; and were raped, tortured, and maimed by the henchmen of the dictator Marcos,” the lawmaker added.

He said that there can be no forgiveness without remorse and repentance from the surviving martial law implementers, perpetrators, and beneficiaries.