A Letter to My Niece

My Dearest A,

I am so sorry to hear about what happened in school. Your Tita G and I thought we could help with your homework when you asked us about our memories of our youth. We honestly didn’t think your teacher would give you a bad grade for showing a different perspective. And I thought that was the one of the important lessons from Martial Law – to have the right of freedom of expression and the power of dissent. But I guess the nuns and your teachers at that good Catholic school have succumbed to the very evil they believe to oppose.

The question you presented us was very simple – what did we know of Martial Law; we, the generation who apparently have lived through it as well as the tumultuous Pre- and Post-EDSA 80s. We were kids in the 70s, the height of the 3rd Quarter Storm. Our older siblings were teenagers who suffered the curfews imposed then. Case in point: our residence inadvertently became the FratHouse for Manong Butch’s fraternity brods from Beta Kappa, mainly because some of them got caught by the curfew deadline and couldn’t go home to their more distant houses. I fondly remember Minel, the tall, curly-haired brod whose “macho” motorcycle could not possibly outrun the MetroCom or PC imposing the curfew.

I remember the heated political discussions at the dinner table between Manong Butch and Daddy. With these two, what was happening at our household was a perfect microcosm of how the Philippines was at the time – young people questioning and arguing with The Authority. Daddy would always have his explanations; from the mandatory ROTC, to jaywalking being punishable by singing the National Anthem, or community service consisting of cleaning and pulling weeds at the highway. This prompted Manong Butch to finally say to Daddy: “lagi ka naman panalo e.” But try arguing with a top-notch litigation lawyer even if you’re a full NSDB (now NSTA) scholar of the DOST.

Yes, education was a priority then, and poor and deserving students were the ones who actually got into the State-funded schools and got scholarships. Science high schools and State Universities were the prestigious institutions one aspired for, not the over-priced, private, Catholic colleges that seem to be given so much preference now by CHED and DepEd. No, the worst thing that could befall young people then was not drug addiction, but becoming an “out-of-school youth”. The basic idea of good parenting was applied under the State’s parens patriae – and that was to keep everyone preoccupied and productive, hence the emphasis on vocational and technological schools. As was required then (and this was before the KasamBahay Law), even our young helpers were sent to finish their schooling. My yaya/playmate, Mati, arrived from the province barely finishing her elementary education. So she went from Rodriguez Elementary to Kamuning High School, to finally finishing a secretarial course at Ortanez University. Manang Fe, Tita G’s yaya, went to Ramon Magsaysay High School, while Islaw, our handyman/gardener and Mati’s brother, was sent to vocational school to learn basic auto mechanics.

But why did Marcos take Meralco from the Lopezes, Jacinto Steel from the Jacintos? Why was there government-held media – from television networks, to radio, to newspapers? Why did Marcos and his government control everything? It was only years later that I understood – when the oligarchs all came back and took control of the vital industries once more. They used to complain of Marcos “cronies”, but these were just replaced by Cory’s “amigas” from the Philippines’ richest families. Things got even worst when the tune of the day became “privatization” during Pres. Ramos’ term. These corporations took over public utilities like electricity, water supply, and telecommunications, and drastically raised prices under the guise of “improving services” when in fact it was all about generating profits. Meanwhile, the poor common tao suffered the high cost of basic utilities and we were all at the mercy of these private sector players. They said basic services had always been expensive to sustain; we only didn’t feel it as much because government used to keep price fluctuations under control since it also owned NAPOCOR, not like today when the EPIRA law has allowed the entry of so many players in the power industry. (And you already know where that lead us, with the current ERC suicide-controversy.)

There must be some wisdom behind those “hostile” take-overs then, and bringing them all under “government-owned and controlled corporations” (GOCCs). Maybe the Marcos Administration had a plan after all, the same way it constructed all those specialized hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, the National Kidney Institute, the Lung Center, and the Philippine Children’s Hospital. These facilities were supposed to provide quality healthcare which were accessible to the poor. I believe it was the first step to “medical tourism” in Asia. From the profits it could make from foreigners coming in, the needy Filipinos would already be subsidized. These days, these medical facilities are operated as “semi-private” with small if not lessening financial support from the government. Meanwhile, our poorer languish in need of affordable healthcare services.

True, there was something about the media then…but each newspaper clearly took sides, just as the television networks are nowadays. No one is “innocent”. I have observed that once the Inquirer re-surfaced and quickly gained ground again as a primary broadsheet, it had curiously been pro-Aquino, all these years, from the mother to the son. So don’t be fooled by the propaganda that news is supposed to be objective and neutral…it never is.

I have to agree with what Dr. Clarita Carlos stated recently, that there are many stories to tell. There is not just one version of history, as some people would like to portray the Martial Law years as, one that favors the Aquinos and demonizes the Marcoses. How can they accuse others of “re-writing” history when they keep insisting only on “their version” of history and completely negating some other facts and realities? Is that all we want to teach the youth of today – to again swallow hook, line, and sinker of what they are being told? Or do we present to them all the facts and let them decide on their own?

This is where I find fault in all these Catholic schools “forcing” their students to protest. No, the nuns shouldn’t deny it; no mincing words here. They really do compel students to do their bidding. I thought all these ended when Cardinal Sin died since he was clearly a supporter of Cory Aquino then. In my whole class, I was one of three students who didn’t join the rallies outside our school because my parents didn’t allow me to. The price we paid, we didn’t get Loyalty Awards from our school because we failed to have “extracurricular” points based on “socio-civic awareness”. And I thought “Loyalty” was because I studied there from kindergarten to High School. Being a parent now, I understand why my Dad didn’t want us to join. Rallies and protests were standard in those days, but you never know when it could suddenly turn violent or get dispersed at whatever cost. The school or the nuns couldn’t assure our safety really, so I guess my parents thought they were doing what was best for us then. I hear your generation is being subjected to the same influence nowadays, so I guess the CBCP is still hard at work putting you kids at risk.

But may I suggest that you do your own assessment of history by truly studying it. I know Araling Panlipunan and Social Sciences seems to be such a bore to you, but the next time your family takes a vacation, ask your Mom and Dad to take you to some historical places and museums. I enjoin you to visit Malacanang Ti Amianan, the few places which still showcase what efforts there were during Martial Law. No, infrastructure wasn’t just about the controversial Film Center along Roxas Blvd. Check out the Patapat Viaduct you traversed on the way to Pagudpud, the famed San Juanico bridge that connect Leyte and Samar which you only heard about after Typhoon Yolanda, or the WWII Memorial at Mt. Samat in Bataan. Remember when we visited our Alma Mater, UP Los Banos and you asked why IRRI was there? The Philippines offered to host said international scientific research institution because Marcos believed we had the most to gain from its studies - developing those high yield, disease-resistant rice varieties that would ensure Filipinos’ food security. Critics now say it was pesticide and fertilizer-dependent varieties, thus making big corporations richer off the backs of poor farmers. But I believe there was a plan with Masagana 99, instead of what is happening now where we import low quality rice from Vietnam and Thailand, and making NFA sell it to our people to eat.

To be fair, take what your teachers tell you at school, but listen also to other stories. People might say, our family may not have suffered “real loss” during Martial Law. Tell them they are wrong. Do you think that something was not lost when Daddy and Manong Butch were kept divided all those years arguing about politics? Do you think Manong Butch didn’t lose anything when he studied abroad for so long, away from Ate Rhoda and baby Tudoy, only to return to a closed down Bataan nuclear power plant, the very reason why he was sent abroad to study nuclear safety precautions?

Let’s talk about loss...ever wonder why Ate Annette didn’t finish her original course, Dentistry, and instead graduated Accounting long after Angel was born? After watching my older brothers in UP and keeping them from the protests and curfews, Daddy didn’t think it would be a daughter studying in the University Belt in Manila who would eventually join LFS and become an “urban educator” and “labor organizer” of the CPP-NPA. Our family lost Ate Annette to the Underground for many years. It broke Daddy’s heart and relatives looked down on us because we had a “black sheep” in the family. Never mind that Manong Snokum was gay; he hid it well and never flaunted it. But Ate Annette was an “open secret” with her continuing absence and unknown whereabouts. When she surfaced, it was almost the period of the “Killing Fields”, where CPP-NPA members were killing off their own compatriots. Our parents worried about her and her family when we would lose contact and they would be shuttling from one residence to another.

Loss? Maybe not death or disappearance, but I know what it feels like because Ate Annette was my closest sister then, my idol…Before she ran away, I dreamt about her leaving us and it was a recurring nightmare that brought me to tears. Waking up from another nightmare one night, I crept into hers and Ate Marie’s room and pecked her on her cheek. A few days later she was gone. Daddy was away on an official trip and when he came back, he broke down. That started years of worrying if she had been caught, arrested, tortured, and incarcerated…or worst, killed. Each time Ate Annette would surface, we would all heave a sigh of relief, and then the cycle would begin all over again.

It was only after the Killing Fields, when many of them joined the Administration to work with the government, that Ate Annette made the slow transition into normal life by doing NGO work. I was in college by then, experiencing the aftermath of the EDSA revolution which completely made my future uncertain. 1986 saw me having my soiree cancelled, our one chance to have “socials” with boys, our HS graduation became indefinite as we never knew if those guys between Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo would eventually get bombed by the flying airforce planes and a civil war would erupt, or if we would ever get to college or simply get conscripted into the armed forces.

The years that followed were nowhere more certain. The late 80s were plagued by the indecisiveness of Cory Aquino whose one big accomplishment was changing the names of all important buildings to her late husband’s. Coup d’etats were attempted in 1987 and 1989 by “disillusioned” former allies like Gringo Honasan, or was it because of the glaring self-interest of Ramos and Enrile once again? Meanwhile, your Tita G and I endured getting stranded in UPLB time and again because we couldn’t go home to a coup d’etat-paralyzed Metro Manila.

These days I get so annoyed with all the noise some people are making. Has-been college politicians who turned into lazy senators and corrupt bureaucrats are now active in the social media, the same people who didn’t really do anything, and instead allowed graft and corruption to proliferate because they benefitted from it. I am equally surprised how many legal professionals now question the independence of the Supreme Court and its decision, arguing “what is legal” isn’t necessarily “moral”. I always thought as law graduates we were supposed to uphold the law.

Today, Manong Butch, Ate Annette, and I are all in government. We had chosen to serve in public service against better judgement and against the interest of our own bank accounts. Maybe that is why our family’s next generation all opted to work in the private sector. They couldn’t afford to be as foolish as us….still dreaming we can help the Filipino people and make their lives better.

But you asked about Martial Law and what we know of it. So I brought back some memories for you. Those things are what I remembered. These are my stories and there is no other version to it. This is my truth even if it does not suit some other people’s version of histo