Fifty years after martial law was declared in the Philippines, survivors of torture and other atrocities pressed their demand for justice and an apology from the Marcos family, in a stunning reversal of fortune for the once reviled family.
A documentary was unveiled at the University of the Philippines by activists. They say the manifestations were meant to prevent a repeat of abuses and plunder that began after Marcos imposed martial law in the Philippines.
The dictator was ousted in an army-backed uprising in 1986 and died three years later in U.S. exile without acknowledging any wrongdoing, despite accusations that he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion while he was in power.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June after his father's death, gave a speech at the UN. A small group of Filipino American protesters hounded him and at one point booed him and yelled "Never again to martial law!" as he walked into a building with security escort.
The martial law anniversary has not been said about by him or his officials.
For many of the survivors of abuses under Marcos, who are now in their 70s and 80s, the anniversary brought back painful memories of their fellow victims, who were either killed by state forces or remained missing. The martial law years in pro-Marcos social media were portrayed as a "golden era".
Judy Taguiwalo, a former Cabinet official and women's rights activist who was jailed for resisting the dictatorship, said the scars may have healed but the anger and sadness are still there.
Taguiwalo asked the president to stop lying about the effects of martial law.
Marcos Jr., is 65 years old. He said his father's decision to declare martial law was necessary to fight communist and Muslim insurgencies. The late president was described as a dictator by him and his family, but he denied that they were whitewashing history.
A left-wing activist who was tortured and held incommunicado for more than two years, said he would never accept Marcos as president. His sister was one of several anti-Marcos activists who were kidnapped by the government in 1977.
He renewed his call for justice and a Marcos apology, saying that the trauma has returned with all its inhumanities. For the life of me, he is not my president.
The former head of the independent Commission on Human Rights was arrested in 1976 along with five other activists and subjected to sexual abuse.
She co-authored a law that called for documentation of the atrocities and the construction of a museum to honor the sufferings of thousands of people.
The victims of the abuses were compensated. A Hawaii court found the elder Marcos liable for rights violations and awarded $2 billion from his estate to more than 9000 Filipinos who had filed a lawsuit against him.
Taguiwalo said poverty, inequality, injustice and other social ills remained pervasive decades after the 1986 ousting of Marcos. Political dynasties were able to exploit the deep discontent to their advantage.
Taguiwalo told The Associated Press that it wasn't due to being stupid or so forgiven. It's not enough to overthrow a dictator or return a certain amount of civil and political rights.
She said that the majority of the people should have jobs, land and a decent livelihood.
That's right.
The report was written by Associated Press journalists.
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