U.P. Publishes Mga Daso: Stories of Martial Law in Bikol

The University of the Philippines Press (UP Press) has announced that it will publish Mga Daso: Stories of Martial law in Bikol by respected authors Soliman M. Santos Jr., Paz Verdades M. Santos, and Greg S. Castilla. The authors’ writings through the years, starting when they were young activists from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University during the martial law days, evoke a deeper understanding of social, economic, environmental and political issues. They continue to write with conviction and with a purpose that reflects their commitment to lasting peace and social justice issues.

Barring unforeseen events, the book launch will be held at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation auditorium in Quezon City on September 20, 2025, from 3 to 6 p.m. The event will include reading excerpts from the book, Q&A, and a main speaker still to be announced.

The book, which took more than two years to complete, offers a selection of stories – some are gripping, others are deeply-held personal accounts – by Bikolnon activists and victims who lived through and fought the Marcos dictatorship in many different forms during the martial law era from 1972 to 1986.

The 320-page book is not only a fierce polemic against the abuses of the Marcos dictatorship but, as written in the book Introduction, also features previously “untold stories of martial law” and “stories of life and struggle during the Marcos dictatorship.”

Fifty-three years since the imposition of martial law in 1972, the Marcoses and their allies continue to pontificate to the younger generations of Filipinos who have no knowledge or no memory of martial law. They consistently romanticize the “good old days” as a “Golden age” in Philippine history.

To critique this false Marcosian view of history that borders on disinformation, one must learn how to remember and critically understand the past. Thus, the rationale of Ang Daso mirrors George Santayana’s famous quote to “remember the past (so as not to be) condemned to repeat it.” Meant to address the younger generations of Filipinos who did not experience at a discerning age the horrors of martial law, the book humanizes the 35 contributing writers who wanted their stories known.

Modeled initially after Martial Law in Cebu: Stories of Life and Struggle During the Marcos Dictatorship (2022), published by Atty. Democrito Barcenas, and Oh Susana! Untold Stories of Martial Law in Davao (2016), published by the Ateneo de Davao University Publication Office, Mga Daso: Stories of Martial law in Bikol paints a truthful account of Bikolandia’s version of martial law that would help complete the national history that is often Manila/National Capital Region-centric.

Writing Mga Daso, however, was a daunting task. Gathering the necessary materials for a book that recalls the personal stories of individuals who have gone through a lot during martial law, with some even having gone through near death experience under the watchful eyes of sadistic military officers, was not easy. It was like seeing once again the ghost of the past.

Some of the reasons why most of the invited contributors begged off – and understandably so – from participating were the following: Re-experiencing the trauma of being sexually, physically, and mentally tortured; inability to recall past events due to memory loss; fear of reprisal from the military given that extra-judicial killings are still happening; and, the debilitating effects of old age or the state of being weakened due to prolonged illness.

If all this means anything, it means that the authors had to overcome the herculean task of looking for contributors who were willing to write about their “martial law moments” no matter what the cost was. Challenging as it was, the authors felt the show must go on. Thus, for more than a year, the authors reached out to many potential contributors and, lo and behold, 35 contributing writers responded positively.

As the editors wrote in the Introduction, “Anxious to save the stories while the actors are still around, we persisted. We wanted to pass down stories to our grandchildren about what happened to our generation and what we did in response.”

What the authors can offer to the readers is instilling in their minds the power of overcoming obstacles under oppressive conditions akin to how Victor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, found meaning in suffering and remained steadfastly hopeful that things would be better not only for future generations of Jews, but for humanity in general.

Readers can pre-order the book through email at press.marketing@up.edu.ph or purchase a signed copy at the launch event. A book launch is also scheduled at the Ateneo de Naga University on October 15, 9-11 a.m. as part of the Annual James J. O’Brien, SJ, Memorial Lecture Series. A third launch in Legazpi is still lined up later in the year.

The book royalties will be donated to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Foundation to fund its projects “that honor those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom and justice but failed to witness the dawn of freedom.”