MIRRORS OF THE PAST

September 21 is a very historical day for Filipinos for it serves a reminder of how power was used as an
instrument to legitimize oppression and limit the exercise of human rights under the device of ‘martial
law’. It has been a looming shadow for the past 57 years that continues to haunt and impede a nation
from a consistent progress towards its socio-economic ambitions. For such a long time, one would have
thought that lessons, codified and passed on for decades of formal education and actively incorporated
to popular culture and media, would stand clear of fog and become foundational as to this country’s
majority opinion. However, the this is not the case for us. The majority may have suffered from a bad
case of amnesia as who we have placed in power is merely a reflection of the one we have collectively
and conscientiously taken down in 1987.

The fight for freedom that forged the people power revolution as part of Philippine history was
responsible for some of the rights we enjoy today, including freedom from politically motivated
persecutions and strengthened right against inhuman and degrading punishments, as may be found
under Art. III of the 1987 Constitution. This cloak of protection was weaved to encompass the pernicious
details of our horrifying experience under martial law. Today, this cloak is under attack, but the
aggressor employs a more obvious but equally persuasive tactic: misinformation. The mirror of the past
in the body of a 74-year old man retained the same populist ploy to win the masses. Once he has
assured that his subjects were under control, he began a mental conditioning that divided the nation,
with the scales tilting on his side. The consequences have created noise since through legitimizing of
murders, disengagement from renowned international conventions, miscarried leverage against sources
of truth. These are all too familiar if we take it in a sense that it is all an upfront disregard of protected
human rights.

Although it has been 3 years of night for the country, we should never forget that the mirrors of the past
reflect another detail that may well be considered as the silver lining of all these. As we grow tired of the
forming view, we shift to a different angle and reach sight of a familiar cavalry. At the background of the
smirking ill-postured man marches a relentless force. The faces, coming clear as the focus shifts,
resurrects the images of heroes in the likes of Ditto Sarmiento, Renato Constantino, Ninoy Aquino, Pepe
Diokno, and more. The reflection starts to get graphic, as hands with pens and microphones spar with
baton and wooden pipes. In the middle remains the man, now coughing and showing signs of weakness.
This is happening now. The heroes still live in the hearts and raised fists of many. As you stand across
the mirror, take a longer look of yourself. Today may be a mirror of the past, but just the same, we have
the heroes of today.