52 Years After Martial Law: Unlearned Lessons

Fifty-two years ago, on September 21, 1972, the Philippines entered one of the darkest chapters of its history as Martial Law was imposed by then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The dictatorship that followed led to thousands of human rights abuses, a stifling of free speech, economic mismanagement, and rampant corruption. The era is immortalized in numbers—the 70,000 arrested, the 34,000 tortured, and the 3,240 killed, according to Amnesty International—but beyond the painful statistics lies a deeper concern: the failure of the Filipino people and their leaders to fully absorb the broader lessons of this period.

In 1986, the People Power Revolution ousted Marcos, symbolizing the nation’s collective desire to break away from tyranny. However, the return of the Marcos family to political prominence, capped by the election of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president in 2022, signals a crack in our political consciousness. The resurgence of this political dynasty did not happen overnight, and it is an indication of the nation’s failure to guard the democratic gains fought for during the dictatorship’s fall.

Long before Ferdinand Jr.’s victory, signs of a short memory and a weakened political acuity were visible. Marcos family members were gradually reintroduced to local politics, often bolstered by a revisionist narrative that softened the brutal image of Martial Law. This revisionism was aided by the rise of social media, where misinformation and historical distortion easily flourished.

But this wasn’t solely a media phenomenon. It points to a more profound societal and systemic failure—one that lies in the complacency of both the electorate and their leaders. The lessons of Martial Law, of vigilance, accountability, and a commitment to democracy, seemed to fade as newer generations, unfamiliar with the regime’s horrors, turned to personalities rather than principles when voting. Education reforms meant to ensure historical accuracy were sporadic and weak, and the electorate’s critical thinking eroded over the years.

As much as the Marcoses reemerged, the fault lies not only with them. It lies in the cracks of governance, the inconsistencies in the justice system that failed to hold the family accountable, and the leadership gaps that allowed a return to dynastic politics. Those in power who were tasked with preserving the country’s hard-won freedoms either grew complicit or failed to push back enough.

The Filipino people, too, must bear some responsibility. The pain of Martial Law was not enough to prompt consistent vigilance. Instead, political disenchantment, patronage politics, and the erosion of democratic institutions slowly led to a culture of forgetfulness. Leaders who could have championed reforms opted for political expediency, and the public’s focus shifted away from accountability.

Fifty-two years later, the country still struggles with the very issues that Martial Law sought to solve—poverty, social inequality, and political instability. Ironically, those same issues, unresolved, have become the breeding ground for historical amnesia and the resurrection of the very forces that once brought the nation to its knees.

The tragedy of Martial Law isn’t just in the numbers of those who suffered. It is in the realization that the nation has yet to truly learn from it. The road to reclaiming democracy is long, and the resurgence of the Marcoses serves as a grim reminder that the fight is far from over. The challenge now is for Filipinos to not just remember the pain, but to internalize its lessons—to guard against complacency, resist the allure of personalities, and rebuild institutions that protect democracy.

The past 52 years are a reminder that while history is easy to forget, its consequences remain very much alive in the present. For Filipinos, the challenge is not just to look back, but to act on the lessons that still hang heavy over the nation.

The question now is: Will we learn, or will we continue to let the cracks widen?