The Philippine Online Chronicles

Life goes on

Contrary to what most young people today think, the martial law years wasn’t exactly the “dark years,” as some would have it. To anyone reading the history books or the countless articles written about those years, it might have sounded scary enough living under the rule of a dictator, but that was far from the truth. While it was true the press was muffled and a certain number of civil liberties were taken away from the citizens, it wasn’t , overall, as draconian as one might think, certainly not the Orwellian type of society with “Big Brother” watching your every move (although it could be said differently for some); nor did it ever resemble that of other authoritarian regimes such as, say, North Korea where everything was rationed and strictly supervised. Neither were there random arrests and mass executions in the streets and countryside like what happened in Cambodia. And no, there weren’t any (at least none that we know of) internment camps like those set up in Vietnam after the communists took over where untold numbers were imprisoned. There were illegal arrests for sure but it was an exception rather than the norm. In short, friends and neighbors weren’t “disappearing” or dropping dead like flies en masse. That nightmarish scenario resides only in the minds of those who haven’t lived through the era.

For the millions of Pinoys life remained pretty normal --- at least, in some ways --- and went on unhampered, and unless politics runs in your blood, one wouldn’t worry about receiving sinister-looking visitors in the middle of the night and risk being whisked away to Camp Crame for an “interview.” Even days after the declaration of martial law there still were no telltale sign of a national emergency. People still went about their daily business without much hassle. Stores, cinemas and even bars and casinos were still operating although people had to rush home no sooner than the hands on the clock strikes 10 to beat the curfew.

To be fair to the late dictator, he didn’t exactly turn this country into a garrison state as some quarters would like you to think, but it still didn’t make everything he did right. The downside to the improved peace and order situation was the loss of one’s basic freedom: the right to free speech. Criticism of Marcos and the military was a no-no as long as you lived under their, err… protection.

While it was true that there were fewer crimes being committed --- most notably during the early days of martial rule --- one could attribute the “improved” peace and order situation to the imposition of curfew which, in reality, is a curtailment of one’s freedom. Another reason for the surprisingly low crime rate was the presence of more than the usual number of police and soldiers in our streets that, unfortunately, points to the creeping militarization of the country. That militarization would eventually extend even to schools, as basic military training (CAT in high school and ROTC in college) became prerequisite for a high school and college diploma.

As an eleven year-old kid on the verge of puberty the events prior to and after the declaration of martial law didn’t exactly weigh heavily on my young mind. Although I was well aware of what was happening all around me (I try to keep abreast of the current events on the dining table), life to me then revolved mostly around home and school. At fourth grade in elementary school, my own little world was shielded from the harsh realities of the political situation of the times. But home and family wasn’t enough of a shield it seems, as we would later learn.

In order to further his grip on the Pinoy hearts and mind, especially on the youth, Marcos embarked on a massive political indoctrination, something that has not been seen since the beginning of the Japanese occupation. A few days after his declaration of martial rule, his political machine went into high gear as wave after wave of propaganda came out as fast as coke cans come out of the vending machine. Not a day went by without the state-controlled media harping about the New Society Marcos had envisioned, and his administration’s achievements and plans; further on that propaganda will include his wife’s numerous trips abroad to further enhance the nation’s standing in the international community that oftentimes left a bitter taste in one’s tongue.

Such was the effectiveness of his indoctrination program that you’d be hard put to find anyone who had lived through those years who doesn’t remember the most popular slogan of the era: “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan” (Progress requires discipline). In a way, Marcos was right in calling for national discipline because he believed then there is a need to condition the mindset of the Filipinos to counteract a popular notion that Filipinos are lazy by nature, therefore unable to attain the progress that they have sought for so long. It was a rare show of nationalism and perhaps, the only positive act from the man who sought to control the very lives of his fellow citizens. Such was the seriousness of this call to discipline that when a popular TV host supposedly uttered in jest, “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan” (Progress requires a bicycle) he was reportedly picked up by the authorities and was ordered to bike around Camp Crame.

Everything was just rumor at this point because there never was any official account or confirmation from the host that it really happened. One has to remember that because of the tightly controlled media, news was oftentimes sanitized. Rumor mills were working overtime and had become a fertile source of news and entertainment for news-deprived populace. A full decade before EDSA, news and accounts of corruption and excesses of the Marcos family and cronies were already making their way through the rumor grapevine and this is more likely the reason for the increasing discontent among Pinoys who are being saddled with the burgeoning national debt.

Marcos may have been labeled --- and rightfully so --- as the “big bad wolf” who wanted more than his share of the three little pigs but it cannot be denied that he did have a few good programs that, for all intent and purposes, were for the benefit of the Filipinos. Long before going green became vogue he launched the “Green Revolution” program which sought to promote the planting of trees and increase our self-sustainability. Unfortunately, a lot of his cronies were also illegal loggers who contributed greatly to the denudation of our forests, thus negating whatever good intention there was in the program. Decades before the RH Bill became the controversial issue that it is at present, Marcos already realized that a runaway population growth would be detrimental, rather than a boon to the country and he encouraged Pinoys to plan their family through his Family Planning programs. That too went down the drain, and we now find ourselves having more than twice the mouth to feed (from the 40 million to 90 million and counting), no thanks to the “macho” Pinoy’s proclivity for unprotected sex and Juan dela Cruz’s unrelenting faith in the church. Sadly, the massive corruption and our “ningas kugon” attitude made sure that those, and the other programs remained just that: a pipe dream.

As a leader with sweeping powers, Marcos certainly had the opportunity and the means to do the right thing for his country and its people but preferred instead to enrich himself and his family. One cannot serve two masters at the same time and this holds true for anyone, even someone as wily as Marcos.

Photo: martial law babies from google images

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